Isaac Clarke: Hunter Extraordinaire
by Datguy7788
Summary: Isaac Clarke has seen a lot in his life. But he has never seen anything like the world of Remnant. Now he must fight to survive the dangers of this new world, nothing new to him. But something far more evil lurks in the shadows and the inhabitants of Remnant are not ready for the cold grasp of the dead.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Dead to the world**

 _ **A/N: I was playing Dead Space 2 so I wanted to write a story. Hope you enjoy.**_

Isaac Clarke, 49 years old and was about to die. After turning the machine back on he was blasted into atmosphere. Isaac was stuck, there was no one coming to save him. Isaac could feel the harsh wind blow past his head as he fell. Soon he couldn't hear and all sense of pain had left his body.

Even though Isaac was about to die, he wasn't afraid. After years of torture, fighting, and death, he had lost the feeling to be afraid. Isaac thought back to all the people who have died simply because they were around him. Zach, Johnston, Chen, Austin, Santos, Carver, and of course Nicole. Each one of them were dead because of Issac. Soon, he would be joining them.

The worst part about all of it was no one would know about them. They all gave their lives to fight the necromorphs, if it hadn't been for them Isaac could have never ended the threat. They had saved the universe but no one would know. They would get no honors, no parades, no children writing book reports about them. They had all died, alone and scared.

Isaac wasn't that far off, he was alone but not sacred. Even after everything he was able to save the only good thing in his worthless life. Still falling Isaac reached into his suit's pocket and pulled out his picture of Ellie. Isaac looked at it, memorized every feature. Isaac wanted her face the be the last thing he saw. Isaac reached forward with his hand wanting to touch the photo but his fingers were turning numb.

Before he could react the picture flew out of his hand. Isaac watched as it disappeared in the chaos of falling debris. Isaac reached out for the photo but it was gone by the time he lifted his hand. He felt the cold slowly overtake him, this was the end. Isaac slowly began to lose concisus as he continued to fall. First his vision went black as all his muscles finally gave out. He felt his body drift through space as he chuckled to himself one last time. They were right, only the dead survive in space.

A gentle breeze. That's what Isaac felt. Not the cold but the warm beams of the sun on his skin. Isaac slowly opened his eyes, still delirious from light. Isaac slowly rose as his eyes finally adjusted to his surroundings. Isaac was sitting in the middle of a meadow, the rolling grass hills expanding into the horizon in front of him.

Isaac couldn't help but think this was heaven. The last thing he done was fall thousands of feet while a moon sized necromorph crashed into him. Isaac reached for his head as his face was soon covered by his helmet. With a flick of his wrist his vitals were displayed on the helmets HUD. 60 bpm, 99.1 F°, 0 BAC, current health: green. Isaac almost let out a sigh of disappointment, he was still alive.

But then a thought occurred to Isaac. He was still alive!

"Eilie! Ellie do you read me? Ellie!" Isaac shouted into his communication system. Isaac received no response.

Isaac stood up and began to adjust his communication system's broadcast siganle, "Hello! Ellie! Carver! Does anyone copy?" Isaac shouted hoping someone would answer.

Silence was Isaac's only answer. Isaac shook his head, nothing was making sense. One moment he is falling to his death and the next he is in the middle of a field. Isaac knelt down for a moment to process what was going on. Then a feeling of anger washed over him, he slammed his fist on the ground. This wasn't fair! He was ready to die! He was tired of everything. Why couldn't the universe just let him rest!?

Isaac didn't know what to do, he sat in silence. Silence made him comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. That's when he heard a faint voice on his communication system. Isaac quickly brought his communication system to the forefront of his HUD. Isaac enhanced the system and heard the voice again.

"Down….injured…." Isaac heard a woman's voice say.

"Hello! Can you hear me?" Isaac said using some of his backup power from his suit to strengthen his signale.

"Yes! We can hear you. My name is Carmine. My team and I crashed nearby. Our ship is broken and we need repairs. Most of my team is injured and are in no shape to fight off Grimm. Atlas would be greatful for any assistance you can provide." Carmine said over the radio.

Atlas? Isaac had never heard of Atlas before. Was it a company? No, that didn't make any sense. The way Carmine was talking she made it sound like she was with a military of some kind. Isaac was still wanted by the Earth Government and by the Unitologist. Still, Isaac couldn't turn a blind eye. "Understood, what is your current location?" Isaac asked.

"Look for the flare." Carmine said through the other line. Isaac looked to the sky when he saw the red flare exploded over a small forest in the distance.

"Okay, I'm on my way." Isaac said making his way towards the flare's location.

"Please hurry, no doubt that attracted Grimm to our location." Carmine said over the radio.

Grimm? Isaac wasn't the smartest guy around, he only really knew how to fix things. However, he had never heard of Grimm in an class he ever took. It was possible that these Grimm were special to this planet. Isaac couldn't let that thought slow him down though, people need his help right now. Isaac made his way into to forest and for a moment he thought he lost his way. That didn't last long as Isaac followed the sound of gunfire.

Isaac ran into the clearing just as he sound of gunfire stopped. He decided it would be better to hide his face so Isaac quickly brought up his helmet. Isaac slowly made his way towards the ship and looked around the corner. Isaac saw four people in some sort of armor tending to their wounds.

"Um, Hello. My name is Isaac." Isaac said grabbing the attention of the soldiers.

One of the taller soldiers made their way over to Isaac. Thier face was covered by a helmet as well but Isaac could tell that this soldier was female. "Hun, didn't think you look like that. Doesn't matter, you said you could provide assistance." The soldier said.

"I'm an engineer. Give me a few hours and I can fix your ship." Isaac said nodding his head.

"Perfect! We just cleared a wave of Grimm. Just focus on getting us up and running again." The soldier said turning back to her men. "Alright, if you want to go home check you weapons and ready up." She shouted getting her men back into combat.

Isaac could tell they were tired. Most of them were wounded in some way and Isaac saw one soldier on the ground. Isaac could see that the soldier was still breathing but he didn't look good. Isaac didn't want to waste any more time and ran over to the ship.

The soldier's ship reminded him of old time helicopters. It was clear that the ship was not capable of space travel but Isaac only needed to get to a city first. From the city he could contact Ellie and possible leave whatever planet he was on. Isaac examined the damage to the ship, the engines weren't broken but something was disrupting the system. Isaac walked to the cockpit and opened the control panel. That's when Isaac saw the problem, the circuits were fired. Isaac reached for his trusty plasma cutter and activated a small flame on the tool. He would have to reroute power and cut off all the unnecessary parts.

Isaac had just started cutting parts off when he heard a howl echo through the forest. Isaac stuck his head out of the cockpit. "What the hell was that?" Isaac shouted at one of the soldiers.

"Looks like we got Grimm. Hurry up with those repairs!" The soldier responded.

Isaac returned to his work cutting and re-connecting wires where necessary. Isaac continued to work even as the sound of gunfire rattled the forest. Isaac heard the shouts and screams of the soldiers as they fought whatever the enemy was. Isaac couldn't sit by and let innocent people die, that wasn't the way he lived his life. Isaac reconnected the last wire and heard the engine come to life. Hitting the ignit button the ship, it would take a few seconds to power up. Isaac jumped out of the ship plasma cutter at the ready.

"NO! GET OFF ME!" One of the soldiers shouted. Isaac turned his attention to the screaming soldier. Isaac wasn't sure what he was seeing to be true. Standing over the soilder was a massive black creature, its features very wolf like. The creature was about to cut the soldier in half with its massive claws but before it could Isaac fired several plasma shots at the creature's legs.

The black creature roared in pain and turned it's attention to Isaac. Isaac wasted no time and fired several more shots at the creatures left arm. The creature's arm flew off from its body causing the creature to grip it's missing arm. Isaac then fired a barrage of shots at the creature's head cutting it clean off. Old habits kicked in as Isaac rushed forward and stomped on the creatures corps causing blood to spray everywhere.

"Are you alright?" Isaac said offering a hand to the downed soldier.

The soldier took the hand and stood up slowly, "I think so, but I can't walk." He said gripping his leg.

Isaac saw the soldier's leg had a deep red gash. Isaac wasn't any kind of doctor and he couldn't use one of his healing packs now. Isaac threw the soldier's arm on his shoulder, "Alright then, just stay calm and follow me." He said leading the soldier to the ship.

"I got the ship up and running! Everyone get on!" Isaac shouted to the rest of the remaining soldiers.

"Understood! Everyone we're leaving!" The female soldier shouted as the rest of her men began to make their way to the ship.

As Isaac walked the soldier to the ship he could hear the breath of a creature approaching him.

"We're not going to make it!" The soldier shouted.

"Yes we are!" Isaac responded.

It was a race against the creature as Isaac continued to move forward as fast he can. Isaac was mere steps from the ship but he could feel the creature getting closer and closer. Isaac took a brief moment and looked behind his shoulder. The creature was a massive black bear with bone like appendages sticking out of its back. Isaac knew they both could not make it so making a quick decision he threw the soldiers toward the ship.

One of the soldiers caught the injured soldier as Isaac turned around to face his enemy. The massive black bear let out a threatening roar vibrating the very inside of Isaac's core. But Isaac had faced much large threats before and they all died the same. Isaac let out a scream of his own as he used the suits power to rush forward and tackle the beast. Using a free hand he blasted the beast with stasis slowing its movement. Isaac then proceeded to punch the creature's face causing blood to cover his helmet. Isaac didn't stop though, he continued to punch causing more and more damage to the creature. Isaac stopped for a brief moment and grabbed his plasma cutter. He fired shot after shot into the creature's body until nothing remained but a bloody pulp.

Isaac took a moment to catch his breath. The stasis finall1y wore off and the beast didn't even have time to let out a cry of pain. Isaac slowly stood up putting his plasma cutter away. Isaac stood still for a moment, memoires of Necromorphs filled his mind. Was he truly doomed to fight for all time? To never know rest? To forever be tied to the fate of the dead?

"Come on! We got to go!" The female soldier shouted breaking Isaac from his trance.

Isaac shook his head and ran for the ship jumping in at the last second.

"Alright, let's get out of here!" The pilot shouted as the engines ignited taking off immediately.

Within moments the ship was airborn, far away from the forest and the black creatures. Isaac took a breath of relief as his helmet retreated back into his suit. Isaac was about to lean back and take a nap when a soldier tapped him on the shoulder.

"Thank you, I would be dead if hadn't saved me." The soldier said as another tended to his leg.

Isaac waved him off, "Don't worry about." He said.

"Don't be so modest, you saved one of my men's life. For that I am eternally grateful." The female soldier said behind Isaac. Isaac turned to face her, her helmet was removed. Isaac's eyes went wide as the room turned blood red. Her face was almost identical to Nicole. Isaac gripped his head as he heard voices scream inside him.

"Hey, are you okay?" The female soldier asked shaking Isaac.

Isaac shook his head as the world returned to normal. "Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. Old wound." He said.

The woman let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness. I thought you were injured." The woman put out a hand to Isaac. "We haven't been introduced yet. My name is Carmine." She said.

Isaac shook her hand, "You were the one on the radio." He said.

"Yeah thats me. Thanks for all your help. I do have to admit though I didn't think…." Carmine said trailing off at the end.

Isaac was confused. Was it his suit? Was it his weapons? Did she know who he was? Could she be a unitologist? "Didn't think what?" Isaac said slowing reaching for his plasma cutter ready to draw at her response.

"Well this is a bit embarrassing but when you walked up to us in that suit I thought you would be… young." Carmine said laughing a bit at the end and blushing a bit.

Isaac stopped reaching for his Plasma cutter and relaxed his shoulders. "Oh, it's okay." Isaac said waving the comment off. Though if he was being honest it had been a while since someone had commented on his age. If Isaac remembered correctly his birthday was coming up. He was turning fifty if he remembered correctly.

"Well Atlas is very thankful for your assistance. You really saved us. Once we get back to base I'll be sure that you are properly rewarded." Carmine said.

"Thank you very much." Isaac said.

"Well it is going to be a while before we get back to base. Feel free to get some rest in, I'm sure you tired after that battle." Carmine said walking away and attending to a nearby soldier.

Isaac nodded as his helmet reappeared on his face. This was the only time Isaac felt comfortable, when he had his helmet on. The helmet block out noise, blood, and when he needed to the helmet shut out the light. Isaac wasn't afraid of the darkness, he was afraid of what was in it.

"Um… Isaac sir. We arrived." A voice from behind the darkness said.

Isaac shook his head waking from his slumber. "Thanks." He said slowly standing up and looking out one of the windows. Isaac wasn't sure where exactly he was but he could tell that where he was it was a giant hanger. Other ships were sitting in the dock while crew members attended to ships.

Isaac stretched his limbs and stood up. While he was stretching Carmine walked up to him, "Umm… I hate to ask this of you but our commander wants to thank you personally." She said.

"It's no problem." Isaac responded.

"Good, come with me." Carmine said gesturing for Isaac to follow.

Isaac stepped off the ship and got a better look around the hanger. Isaac wasn't sure what is was but something was throwing him off. He had spent a lot of time in shipyards so some of the tools these soldiers were using were odd. The tools looked old and the ships themselves almost ancient. Isaac wasn't sure what was going on but as long as they had a communication relay of some kind he could contact Ellie.

Isaac followed Carmine until she stopped in front of a older man. She saluted and walked away leaving Isaac alone with the man. He was wearing a uniform of some kind, his hair was like Isaac's almost all gray. The man's face was very strong and his features almost looked like they were made of stone. The man offered his hand to Isaac while keeping his other hand behind his back.

"Thank you for your assistance citizen." The man said.

Isaac shook the man's hand. "It was no problem. In fact I was hoping you could help me." He said as his helmet retreated.

"Ask away Mr… forgive me but I don't seem to remember your name." The man said stroking his chin.

"Isaac. And you are?" Isaac asked.

"General Ironwood. I must say Isaac I have never seen a suit like that before. Or a weapon like that. Can I ask where you got them?" Ironwood asked.

Isaac was confused. Of course he had made modifications to his suit and plasma cutter but they were still standard issue. "You mean my plasma cutter?" Isaac asked.

Ironwood shook his head, "I have never heard of a weapon like that before. Did you make it yourself?" He asked.

Isaac decided for both their sakes it would be easy to just say yes. "Yes, I also made the suit." Isaac said.

"Interesting, well after we help you with whatever you need I hope I can convince you too look into a job in the Atlas military." Ironwood said in a joking matter.

Isaac laughed along, "I might just take you up on that. Now coming back to that favor. Do you have a communication relay of some kind? I need to send out a message." He said.

"Of course." Ironwood snapped his finger and a nearby robot came to life. The robot marched over to Ironwood and waited for instructions. Ironwood took out a small device and inputted a commands. "Follow this bot, he will take you to our communication room. Afterwords if you still want to talk about that job follow the bot once again." He said.

Isaac nodded, "Thank you very much." He said.

"Consider it even for saving my men." Ironwood said. "Now if you'll excuse me I have a important colleague to meet." Ironwood turned heel and walked away leaving Isaac alone with the robot.

Isaac turned to the robot who saluted. "Come with me sir." The robot said dropping the salute and marching down a nearby hallway.

Isaac followed the robot down the hallway. The hallway was extremely clean, not a spec of dirt anyway. The gray metal walls almost reminded Isaac of the Ishimura. Isaac was confused by this planet. This planet wasn't backwards like some frontier planets but why hadn't Isaac seen a single mention of the Earth government? Last time Isaac checked the earth government didn't let frontier planets have their own army in case of rebellion. Isaac had to wonder what were the creatures he fought, they seemed to plague the soldiers. He wondered if they were intelligent or followed a hive mind like the necromorphs.

Isaac was so lost in thought he almost ran into the robot. "We have arrived sir." The robot said opening a door a small room.

Isaac looked inside the room. It was filled with servers and other communication machines. It wasn't great but with a little tinkering Isaac could broadcast a message across all know space. "Thanks." Isaac said stepping inside.

Isaac made his way to the main console. Isaac placed a hand on the console as his suit interfaced. Adjusting the frequency Isaac began to broadcast on a special frequency. It was one only Ellie and Carver knew about. Isaac begin rerouting power from his suit to the communication relay. His suit would be weak for a bit but it would be worth it. Isaac cleared his throat and began to broadcast his message.

"I'm so sorry for everything Ellie. You had to suffer so much because of me and my actions. It's over now, I'm not sure how but I'm alive. I am on some strange planet I have never heard off. I am sending the coordinates of my location of this frequency. But… Ellie I can understand if you never want to see me again. I caused you so much pain. I was ready to die and if you have accepted that so have I. Carver, if you still alive and listing then I hope you know that you did you job. You completed the mission and I couldn't have done it without you. You were a good friend, I hope we can meet again some day."

Isaac finished his message and closed the communication relay. Isaac sat down for a moment as his held his head in his hand. What was he going to do now? He could take the job from Ironwood but then what? Would he cause these people to die too? Isaac wrestled with these thoughts as he stood up and opened the door to the hallway.

When Isaac opened the door however he was greeted by several robots pointing their guns at him while a tall woman in white pointed a sword at him. "You are coming with me." The woman said coldly.

Isaac put up his hand, "What is going on here?" He asked.

"Quiet!" The woman in white said smacking Isaac in the face with the but of her sword. Isaac fell on his knees and wiped some blood from this mouth. "I said you are coming with me." The woman in white grabbed Isaac by his shoulder, "On your feet!" She shouted pulling Isaac up and pushing him forward.

Isaac put his hands up as the woman pointed the tip of her blade on his back, "Move forward." The woman in white shouted as Isaac marched forward.

Isaac's mind was running at a million miles per hours. He examined every possible scenario. He could set a tripwire with his plasma cutter. No, that could hurt him too. He could use his thrusts to blast forward while shooting back. No, his suits power was low enough as it was. He could try to block the woman's weapon with his suit and take her hostage. That could work. Before Isaac could enact his plan the woman shouted at him to stop in front a large door.

"Wait right here." The woman in white said pressing her finger to the door. "I brought the prisoner sir." She said.

"Bring him in." Ironwood's voice said.

The door opened and Isaac was pushed through. Isaac found himself in a large office, a large deck overlooking a window. Isaac looked out the window to see that wherever he was they were airborne. That could help Isaac escape. Ironwood was standing in front of the window and then turned around to face Isaac when he walked in.

"Who are you?" Ironwood asked his eyes narrowing.

"I told you, my name is Isaac." Isaac said.

Isaac felt a powerful blow to the back of his head. "Answer the question." Isaac heard the woman in white say behind him.

Ironwood put up his had to pacify the woman. Ironwood shook his head, "None of this is necessary. Just tell me who you are, if you don't I'm afraid Winter will have to deal with you." Ironwood said.

Isaac began to weigh his options. Using his stasis to freeze the woman and take her hostage could still work. However, that isn't how Isaac solved his problems. With a heavy sigh Isaac decided that the old saying was true, the truth would set him free. "My name is Isaac Clarke." Isaac said preparing for the backlash.

Ironwood seemed confused, he pulled out a small device and begin to type something on it. Within seconds Ironwood's face turned sour, "Take him away Winter." Ironwood said.

Winter grabbed Isaac, "Come on." She said pushing him away.

"Wait! I can explain!" Isaac shouted.

Ironwood put his hand up causing Winter to stop. "You better explain fast." He said.

"My name is Isaac Clarke. I'm an engineer with the CEC." Isaac said.

Ironwood shook his head, "Making up words won't help you." Ironwood said.

Isaac was now beyond confused, "Wait! Where am I? What planet is this?" Isaac asked.

Now Ironwood was the one who was confused. "You mean to tell me you don't know where you are? Next your going to tell me you're from another planet too." Ironwood said chuckling to himself.

"I am! I was born on Earth." Isaac shouted.

"This is getting us nowhere. A few days in solitary confinement might loosen your tongue." Ironwood said as Isaac was escorted out of the room.

Isaac was stuck with Winter as she pushed him down the hallway. "You should be grateful, if it was up to me I would have you killed." Winter said as the two walked down the hallway.

"I don't even understand what is going on. I told you who I was." Isaac said.

Winter scoffed, "What you did was lie to us." She said as the two walked down a long hallway with a row of small rooms on the side. "Stop here." She said stopping Isaac in front of a small room. She stepped forward and begin to pressed several buttons on the door. The door opened to reveal a tiny room with barely enough space for Isaac to stand up.

"Get in there." Winter said pointing her weapon at Isaac and motioning for him to step inside.

"I'm sorry about this." Isaac said deciding it was now or never to make his move. He quickly flicked his wrist as his helmet covered his face. Quickly reading his HUD Isaac saw his suit was still on low power but his stasis was full. Bringing his hand up he blasted Winter with stasis slowing her movement. Isaac then kicked her body into the room and slammed his fist down on the door controls.

The door slammed shut behind Winter locking her inside. "I really am sorry." Isaac shouted as he turned heel and began to run back the way he came. If he remembered correctly then the docks had some ships he could use to escape.

Isaac continued to formulate his plan when he heard a loud metallic clang. Isaac quickly spun around and saw the door of to the room he locked Winter fly off the hinges. Winter stepped outside the cell and Isaac saw a face of unrivaled anger. Winter rushed forward at a insane speed almost catching up to Isaac in a second.

Isaac hadn't planed on her escaping and wasn't sure how she did but right now he was more concerned with staying alive. Isaac blasted Winter again with his stasis slowing her down. Stasis would only last a few seconds so Isaac decided his best plan was to keep running and blast Winter whenever she got too close. He would run out of kinetic by the time he got to the ship but could always get more.

So Isaac ran down the halls of the ship with Winter on his heels tearing up anything that came across her path. Isaac would blast her with stasis whenever she got too close but by the time he reached the docks he was all out.

Isaac saw the ship from earlier parked near the docks. If he could reach it then he could escape, assuming Winter didn't tear him apart. Isaac didn't want to hurt anyone, but he was really considering it right now. Isaac set his plasma cutter to the lowest setting and aimed down his sights.

Winter was in sight, Isaac held his breath and aimed for her left leg. Hopefully it wouldn't do to much damage but before he could pull the trigger he froze in place. A purple energy covered his entire body. Isaac couldn't move an inch.

"Now what is going on here?" A female voice said behind Isaac.

Isaac cursed to himself, why did every woman he ever meet try and kill him?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Welcome to Remnant**

 _ **A/N: People seemed to like the last chapter so here we go.**_

"I must admit, you put on quite the show." A voice in the next cell said.

Isaac chuckled at the comment. "That so?" Isaac asked from his cell.

"Breaking out and fighting a hunter and a base full of Atlas soldier? That takes some real balls." The voice said.

Isaac leaned back in his cell. It wasn't courage that made his escape, it was a necessity. He didn't belong where he was.

Isaac looked down at his hand and tried to move them. The large metallic cuffs they placed on him scraped against his skin. After getting captured by a new blond women they took his suit, weapon, and placed giant metallic cuffs on him. Now he was waiting in a cell for whatever came next.

"So, what exactly did you do? Must have been something big for you to be here with me." The voice said.

Isaac sighed, "I have no idea why I am here." He said.

The voice laughed, "You're kidding me. Are they just locking up random people now?" The voice asked.

"I told them my name and everything and they still locked me up." Isaac said feeling a bit frustrated at Ironwood. Isaac didn't care about this planet and whatever problems it was going through. Isaac just wanted to go back to Earth and after everything he had been through he at least deserved that much. He deserved a small amount of peace.

"That so? Well it seems old Ironwood is locking up just about anyone after what I did. Glad to see that I scared him." The voice said with a laugh.

"What did you do?" Isaac asked a bit afraid of the answer.

"You've been living under a rock?" The voice said a bit offended by Isaac's question. "I'm Roman Torchwick and I almost destroyed Vale!" Roman said.

Isaac sighed, he was always surrounded by crazy people. Then again, he was a bit crazy himself. "Now come on, I told you what I did. Now you tell me, that's what comrades behind bars do." Roman said.

"I told you, apparently they don't like me lying to them so they locked me up. But I didn't lie to them. I even saved some of their soldiers!" Isaac shouted wanting to stand up and punch something.

Roman let out another laugh, "Are you serious? Well aren't you up creek without a paddle. Well odds are you're going to be here for awhile. So I suggested we become good friends, I told you my name, how about you tell me your?" Roman asked.

"Isaac Clarke." Isaac said.

Roman was silent for a moment. "Really?" He asked.

"What do you mean really? I told you my name is Isaac Clarke. Why is that so surprising?" Isaac asked feeling his anger about to boil over. Why was everyone questioning him? What did he do?

"Well to be honest, you came up with a shity fake name." Roman said.

"I told you, my name is Isaac Clarke!" Isaac shouted standing up in his small cell and hitting his head. Isaac sat back down still mad. He couldn't believe what was happening to him.

Roman let out another laugh, "Hey calm down their friend. I get it, I really do. But maybe a better fake name like Amber or Lavender may have when worked out." He said.

Then it hit Isaac. Everyone he had met so far had some sort of connection to a color. Scarlet, Winter, Roman. All of them were connected to some sort of color and some of them even dressed in that color. Maybe this planet had some sort of culture where colors held heavy importance. Then again, it didn't help explain why they had never heard of Earth or even Unitology. Isaac let out a sigh and closed his eyes. Isaac decided he was done fighting. Who cared what happened to him at this point, he escaped death somehow before. There was no need to keep fighting anymore.

Isaac felt at peace for a moment until the cell door opened and Isaac opened his eyes. He saw the blond woman from earlier standing in front of the open cell door. "I am going to need you to come with me." The woman said.

Isaac stood up, "Fine." He said stepping outside of the cell.

The woman closed the cell door behind Isaac as she lead him down the hallway. "Good luck!" Roman shouted at Isaac.

The two continued to walk down the hallway of the ship towards the destination. "I am going to ask you to not try anything." The woman said to Isaac.

Isaac laughed, "No promises." He said taunting the woman.

The two continued to walk until they came upon a door in the middle of a hallway. The woman placed a small device on the door and it opened up to reveal a all too familiar sight to Isaac. It was a small interrogation room. No windows and no source of light. A massive metal table sat in the middle of the room and sitting on one side of the table was a man with gray hair and a green suit.

"Please take a seat." The gray haired man said gesturing for Isaac to take the chair opposite to him.

Isaac turned and the blond woman was gone. Isaac could make a break for it but he doubted he would get very far with his hands in cuffs. Isaac complied and sat down in the chair as the door behind him shut. "So, what do you want?" Isaac asked bluntly cutting right to the point.

The man shook his head, "There are many things I want, you're going to have to be a bit more specific." He said.

"Alright, what do you want with me?" Isaac asked.

"Simple, I want to know who you are." The man said.

Isaac wanted to slam his fist down and scream at this man. He had told them who he was and this was the way they were treating him? Isaac took a moment and regained his composure. "I told you, my name is Isaac Clarke. I was born on Earth June 6, 2465. At this point I don't care if you believe me. I am telling the truth." Isaac said.

The man nodded, "I am want to believe you Isaac but what you are saying is… far fetched." The man said standing up. "You want us to believe you come from another planet? I'm sorry Isaac while you may have some impressive technology nothing else proves that you truly come from outer space." The man said.

Isaac sighed, he wasn't sure why he was going to tell this man about the Markers and the necromorphs but maybe his life story could convince him. "I know I don't have a lot of proof but I have something very important to tell you. What I am about to tell you is not for the feint of heart but if you listen I promise it will explain everything." Isaac said.

The man sat back down and placed his elbows down on the table. "You don't get to live as long as I have by being feint of heart." The man said.

Isaac wanted to laugh at the comment, no one could be ready for the necromorphs. "Fine, I am going to tell you what happened to me four years ago." Isaac said as he began to explain everything about his life and how it was changed by the Markers.

* * *

After an hour of explaining Isaac had told the man, whose name was Ozpin, everything. He told Ozpin about the events on the Ishimura, on Titan station, and about what happened on Tau Volantis. Isaac told Ozpin about his friends who had died and the battles he went through to survive. Ozpin hardly asked any question, only asking what some terms meant. At the end Ozpin was silent. Isaac couldn't blame him, it was a lot to take in all at once.

"So, these necromorphs. You said they are created by Markers but is there any way of location and identifying one?" Ozpin asked.

Isaac nodded, "It starts with people. When a Marker begins to infect people it slowly turns them insane. You may not notice it at first, just some people becoming aggressive or distant. But soon everyone succumbs to the madness and then… they become necromorphs. Then the necromorphs spread everywhere infecting anyone they come across." Isaac said clearing disturbing Ozpin.

Ozpin stood up his hands shaking a bit. "Is there any way to reverse the effects?" He asked.

Isaac shook his head, "No. Once you have become infected you don't stand a chance." He said.

Ozpin turned back to Isaac, "How did you not become infected? You said you have come in contact with Markers before." He asked.

"The Markers are alive in a sense. Before I was able to destroy the Marker on the Ishimura it implanted itself in my head. The Markers thought I could be the key to infesting the entire universe. It took some time but I was able to beat their influence. As far as I am concerned I am the only able to." Isaac said thinking back to his time on the Sprawl and Titan station.

Ozpin shook his head, "If I asked you to identify this breed of madness that the Markers create, do you think you could?" He asked.

Suddenly Isaac felt a cold wave wash over him. It wasn't possible, he destroyed the source of the Markers! The universe should be safe from them. "I think so but Ozpin, If I do find any hint of a Marker nothing on this planet will stop me from destroying it." Isaac said now standing up ready to jump into action.

Ozpin nodded, "I wouldn't have it any other way. You story is far fetched but I have been receiving reports from one of my agents about a village suffering from some kind of sickness. From what you told me this madness seems to match the sickness my agent described. I need you to come with me." Ozpin said walking to Isaac and unlocking his cuffs.

Isaac rubbed his hands and wrists. "I'm going to need my suit and weapon back." He said.

Ozpin opened the door and gestured for Isaac to follow. The two walked further into the ship until they came across a small lab. Inside the lab were several scientists in white coats examining Isaac's weapon and suit. Ozpin opened the door to the lab and lead Isaac inside. "Gentlemen and Ladies, as of this moment all further research on these objects had been canceled." Ozpin said with an authoritative tone.

"But we received a direct order from General Ironwood." One of the scientists said.

"And now you have received a direct order from me. Now clear the room." Ozpin said causing the scientists to reluctantly leave the room.

Isaac walked up to his suit that was propped up by several wires and suspended in the air. Isaac slowly walked up to his suit. He ran his hand over the suit, his skin brushing against claw marks and holes. Isaac had almost forgot what is what like to not wear his suit, it was his life for the past four years. Some part deep down inside of him wanted to not the suit back on. That part of him wanted to walk away but he knew that wasn't possible. No matter how far he seemed to run the Markers always found a way to torture him. He wasn't going to let innocent people die either so with determination in his soul Isaac took his suit down.

After a few minutes he was back in his suit with his plasma cutter at this side. Isaac stretched his fingers and his arms. "Ready?" Ozpin asked.

Isaac nodded, "We gotta move fast." He said.

Ozpin seemed to smile for a brief moment and opened the door the lab only for Ironwood and Winter to be standing at the entrance. "Ozpin, what is going on here?" Ironwood asked.

"I'm sorry James but we don't have time to explain." Ozpin said as the blond woman from before pushed passed Ironwood and stood next to Ozpin. "Isaac has some very important information and we need him." Ozpin said standing up for Isaac.

Ironwood sighed, "Ozpin, I don't want to question your judgment but we don't know who Isaac is. What if he turns around and shoots us in the back?" Ironwood asked.

Ozpin turned to Isaac, "I don't think he will. When you get as old as I do you see things. The way people talk, walk, and even how they look at you. Isaac has a very honest soul, I doubt he would be hurting people unless necessary." He said.

Ironwood was about to say something but then shook his head. "Alright Ozpin, I trust you." He said. "Winter, were leaving Isaac in Ozpin's hands." Ironwood said motioning for Winter to follow.

Isaac could clearly see a look of anger on Winter's face but it was only for a brief moment. She followed Ironwood's order and the two left. Ozpin turned to Isaac, "Now, the village my agent sent the reports from isn't far away from here. Are you sure you are up for this?" Ozpin asked.

Isaac's helmet covered his face, "Point the way." Isaac said.

* * *

Isaac sat inside the bullhead and continued to look through the HUD for his suit. He doubted that any of the scientist looking at his suit could have done any damage to it but better safe than sorry when dealing with Markers.

On the other side of the bullhead was the blond woman from before whose name was Glynda. The two didn't talk much during their trip to the village until Glynda finally cleared her throat.

"May I ask you a question?" She asked.

Isaac looked up from his HUD, his helmet still covering his face. "Sure." He said.

"From what Ozpin told me these Markers are highly dangerous. How do you plan on destroying it once we find it?" Glynda asked.

"I have a mental connections with the Markers. I can go in the inside and destroy them." Isaac said.

"And if that doesn't work?" Glynda asked.

"Get the biggest bomb you have and blow us both to kingdom come." Isaac stated coldly.

Glynda scoffed, "You're not afraid of dying?" She asked.

Isaac went silent for a moment before responding. "I learned there are far worse things than death in the universe." He said thinking back to his past experiences.

Glyna didn't ask another question as the rest of the trip was silent. After a few more minutes after the conversation the Bullhead finally landed. "I tried to call up anyone inside but no one responded." The pilot said over the intercom.

Isaac knew exactly was happening. He walked up to the intercom panel and pressed the button, "Listen very carefully. You take off the moment we step off and you don't come back unless we tell you." Isaac said.

"But what-"

"Do you understand?" Isaac said cutting off the pilot.

"...Understood." The pilot responded.

Isaac turned to the exit and opened the door as Glynda stepped off first. Isaac was off next and then the bullhead took off leaving the two alone on the outskirts of the village. It was the dead of night but none of the house lights inside the village were on. Most of the buildings were homes except for one in the middle that was three stories tall.

Glynda pulled out a small device called a scroll. "According to the last message Amber was staying at the local inn. Her last message said that the villagers were becoming very hostile to each other and there had been several murders in the past week." Glynda said.

Isaac nodded, "Alright then. Follow my lead. We can't separate, not even for a second." He said taking the lead towards the village his plasma cutter raised and ready.

Glyna nodded and followed Isaac into the village. Isaac walked across a bride into the main square of the village. Isaac felt a bit at ease, this village reminded him of the ones in his story books. Old cobblestone streets and homes with straw roofs. The two continued to walk towards the inn when the sounds of footsteps caused Isaac to stop.

The footsteps were odd, each step echoed through the small village and it sounded like the foot was walking in sort of puddle. The squish made Isaac cringe a bit as the sound of the footsteps got closer and closer. Isaac had heard that sound a million times before. "What is that?" Glynda asked.

"The enemy." Isaac said pointing his plasma cutter towards the source of the footsteps.

The two stood in silence as the footsteps became louder and closer. Then it appeared. Isaac had seen this type of necromorph hundreds of times, it was a slasher. It flesh was stretched out over its body as it twisted and turned. This slasher was covered in blood and had two additional knife like limbs sticking out of its back. The slasher made eye contact with Glynda and Isaac.

Glynda flinched for a moment but Isaac wasted no time. He fired a round into the slashers leg cutting it off. He then fired another round at the creature's head cutting it clean off. Wasting no time Isaac went in to confirm the kill by stomping the on the slasher's corpse. Blood sprayed everywhere was Isaac repeatedly stomped on the body until he was sure it was dead.

Isaac took a moment and reloaded leaving a stunned Glynda gripping her weapon tightly. Her eyes were wide and her hands were shaking. Isaac ran up to Glynda and snapped his fingers, "Hey! Were not done yet. You need to stay aware if you want to remain in the land of the living." Isaac shouted snapping Glynda out her shock.

Glynda nodded but still shaken. Fate wasn't done however as four more slashers came out of the woodwork charging at Glynda and Isaac. Isaac picked the two slashers on the right and shot one of the necromorph extra appendages off. It flew into the air and Isaac grabbed it with his kinetic module. He then sent it flying at the closer slasher impaling it on a nearby wall. Isaac turned his attention to the injured slasher and cut its head off with his plasma cutter. The remaining slasher thrashed in pain on the wall. Isaac couldn't stand to hear its grotesques screams anymore and ended its life but cutting off its arms and head.

Isaac turned his attention to Glynda who was using a large piece of the street to turn the two slashers into a bloody pulp. Glynda turned to Isaac, "Will that be enough?" She asked.

From what Isaac remembered Ozpin had told him that some people on this world has special abilities. According to Ozpin Glynda had telekinesis. Isaac was a bit relieved that Glynda was here, it made his job a bit easier. "Yeah that should do it. Don't forget you need to dismember the necromorphs or destroy them in one go. Nothing else will work." He said.

Glynda nodded, "Understood."

Isaac turned to the inn, "Hopefully they were the only ones." He said as the two made their way to the front of the inn. Isaac leaned in close to the door removing his helmet to listen in. He heard a voice talk in a hushed whisper. That at least told Isaac that someone was inside and they were alive, the necromorphs would have killed anyone inside.

Isaac turned to Glynda and brought up one finger. Glynda understood as Isaac's helmet came back. With one powerful kick Isaac busted down the door to the inn and rolled inside. Glynda was right behind him as the two scanned the inn. The inn seemed to have a bar in the center with inn rooms on the upper floors. What surprised the both of them though was the blood. The entire bar was covered in blood and corpses of local residents.

Glyan brought up her hand to her nose, "That smell." She said under her breath.

"Don't cover your nose. You need both hands." Isaac said walking towards the bar counter where he was hearing the hushed whispers.

Isaac leaned over the bar counter his plasma cutter in front of him to find a child sitting in the corner. The child was covered in blood and dirt and was whisper to themselves. "I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy." The child mumbled over and over again.

Isaac motioned for Glynda to come over and she had a shocked expression on her face when she saw the child. "Let me handle this." Glyna said walking around the counter to the child. Glynda got down on one knee, "Hello there, can you tell me your name?" She asked the child.

"I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy." Was the child's only response.

Glyna picked the child up with no resistance. The young boy was a skeleton, his shirt hanging off his body and his face hollow. Glyna put the child down on a nearby chair. "I know you're scared but I need to ask where your parents are?" Glyna asked.

"You make noise. It doesn't like noise." The boy mumbled under his breath.

"What are you talking about?" Glynda asked the boy.

Isaac understood though. He moved in an instant as the ceiling above him gave way and a massive necromorph dropped down. Isaac slowly stood up to get a good look at the necromorph that had dropped. It was a Hunter, a massive variety of slashers that can regenerate. It let out a massive roar shaking the inn to its very foundation. Isaac turned to Glynda who was shielding the child with her body. The Hunter hadn't noticed either one of them so Isaac began to whisper to Glynda. "This thing is very dangerous. It can regenerate wounds almost instantly, so here's the plan." Isaac whispered.

The two exchanged words and Glynda nodded as Isaac stood up. Isaac rolled his shoulder and put his foot back. Then with all his strength he ran forward and tackled the Hunter to the ground. The Hunter slashed at Isaac he he pushed it further across the room until it was right next to the window. Isaac gave one might push and pushed the Hunter away. In that moment the Hunter landed a devastating blow on Isaac cut through his right arm armor and creating a deep wound. Isaac didn't even register the pain as he kicked the creature out the window.

The Hunter stood up ready to attack again but it soon found itself trapped in a purple shield. The Hunter thrashed trying to escape the purple prison but Isaac pulled out a small trigger. He pressed it igniting the incendiary grenades Isaac had planted inside the Hunter. The Hunter let out a cry of pain as it was consumed in the flames.

Glynda dropped the shield and all that remained was pile of ash and a small glowing red stone. Isaac recognized the stone to be a small piece of a Marker! "Don't move." Isaac said to Glynda inching towards the ash pile.

Isaac reached down and picked up the piece of the Marker. Instantly his mind was bombarded with images of death. He saw rivers of blood and corpses hung on trees. Then he saw the piece of the Marker go inside a box with an odd symbol. Then he saw a silhouette of a woman standing over another silhouette. Several more silhouettes appeared but the woman simply turned them all to ash with a wave of her hand. Then the silhouette of the woman turned to Isaac. Isaac could see her golden eyes shine directly into his soul.

Isaac let out a cry of pain as he crushed the piece of the Marker in his hand. "Are you okay?" Glynda asked placing a hand on Isaac's shoulder.

Isaac shook his head. "No, not anymore." He said standing up. "We should head back. That Hunter was the last one." Then the child from before stepped outside and began to sit next to the pile of ash.

"Mother is burned. Mother is dead. Mother is gone." The boy mumbled.

Isaac could see the sorrow on Glynda's face. "Is there anything we can do for him?" Glynda asked.

Isaac shook his head and pulled out his plasma cutter and pointed it at the kid. "We can make it painless." He said with a somber tone.

"There must be another way" Glynda shouted. "You don't have to do this." She said.

Isaac responded by firing a round and ending the life of the child. "Trust me, after what he saw… death is a lot less painful." Isaac said.

Glyna shook her head, "I.. understand." She said. "Have you had to do this before? Kill people?" She asked.

"Let's go." Isaac said calling the pilot and making his way back to the extraction point.

* * *

"So, it seems that these Markers are here as well." Ozpin said taking a sip from his mug.

Isaac nodded, "Yeah. Now I think I have a lead on where we can find it. If we can find it I can destroy it." He said.

Ozpin stood up and shook his head, "This is a disaster. An entire village and one of my agents missing. Dark times seem to be coming." Ozpin went silent for a moment. "Isaac I have a favor to ask." He asked.

Isaac was hesitant to ask but did so regardless. "What is it?"

"These necromorphs are dangerous, even I can see that. I was wondering if you could catalog everything you know about the necromorphs and the Markers. You could stay at my school and track down leads on the Marker while catalog your knowledge in our library." Ozpin said sitting back down. "I know it is a a lot to ask but if you do this for me I will promise to help you track down this Marker."

Isaac thought for a moment. He really didn't have anything to lose. "One rule though, I like my privacy. Promise me that and you have a deal." Isaac said reaching his hand out.

Ozpin shook Isaac's hand, "You have a deal. Now, there are some things about Beacon Academy you must know first." Ozpin said.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: First day on the job**

The loud blaring of the alarm caused Isaac to fall out his bed and hit his head. Isaac groaned as he stood up rubbing his head. He glared at the alarm clock next to bed and hit the snooze button on it. Isaac stretched his limbs as he walked towards the bathroom door. Opening it up he walked towards the small shower and turned the handle. In an instant hot water began to pour out as Isaac took of his pajamas. He jumped into the shower and enjoyed the warm water wash over him.

Isaac couldn't remember the last time he had a warm shower like this. He would have to thank Ozpin at some point. Ozpin had keep his promise, he had provided Isaac with a small room in the back of the engineering lab. The room wasn't huge but Isaac didn't need a lot. It had enough space for a bed, a small station for his suit, and a desk. The bathroom wasn't much bigger either but the room was designed for one so it worked for Isaac.

Isaac finished his shower and grabbed one of the towels on the wall. He dried himself off as he brushed his teeth in the sink. He looked at his face in the mirror for a moment. His hair had been turning gray but it seemed to be getting worse. Now the small stubble around his face was almost completely gray. Isaac was considering shaving it off but decided against it.

Now dry, Isaac stepped out of the bathroom and into the main room. He opened his closet and pulled out a dark blue shirt and dark gray cargo pants. The closet had been there before Isaac arrived and the clothes with it. Ozpin had given Isaac some spending money but Isaac didn't really understand the money system yet. He would have to go shopping with a local to make sure he got a good deal. He then grabbed a leather brown jacket and a pair of black combat boots.

Isaac grabbed his scroll of the desk and headed out of his room. He walked through the engineering lab on his way out to the hallway. Isaac had to shield himself from the sun for a moment. He did want to bing his suit with him to his introduction to the school but Ozpin asked him not to. Ozpin didn't want too many people asking questions about Isaac. Isaac pulled out his scroll and opened the map. Following the map he made his way to the cafeteria for breakfast.

Isaac opened the door to the cafeteria and was blown away but what he saw. The cafeteria hall was massive with tables as far as the eye could see. What surprised Isaac the most however, was that most of the tables were not filled. There were small groups of students sitting at tables but no student was sitting alone.

Isaac didn't mind as he walked towards the back of the hall to the food bar. Isaac's mouth began to water at what he saw. Bacon, sausage, waffles, but a surprising lack of pancakes. Isaac grabbed a plate and began to load up with everything. He hadn't eaten like this in what seemed like years.

With his plate full of food Isaac took a seat near the corner of the hall. He didn't really want to interact with any of the students yet. Ozpin had given him a few history lessons about Remnant but there was still a lot he didn't know. Ozpin told Isaac that a lot of history had been lost because of the Grimm. Isaac had a theory that some humans crashed on this planet hundreds of years ago but he couldn't confirm that theory yet.

Isaac was so caught up in thinking he hadn't even taken a bite of his food. Casting away all thought. he devoured his food not even taking a moment to breath. Within minutes he had finished his food and was leaning back in his chair comfortably.

For a brief moment Isaac was happy. A full stomach and no one was trying to kill him. To Isaac it couldn't have been more perfect. Isaac was enjoying the moment when a girl with bunny ears sat down next to him. Isaac was a bit caught off guard at first, Ozpin had told him that another species lived on Remnant. They were called Faunus and the most notable feature were animal like characteristics. Isaac assumed that this girl had some sort of rabbit trait based off her ears.

"Umm excuse me? Could you not stare?" The girl said timidly to Isaac.

Isaac shook his head, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." He said.

"Thank you." The girl said going back to her meal.

Isaac felt the need to carry the conversation further. He didn't want to interact with the students yet but there was obviously a reason she sat down next to him. "My name is Isaac." Isaac said offering a hand to the girl.

The girl seemed a bit hesitant at first. Then she weakly shook Isaac's hand, "Velvet." She said.

"Are you a first year?" Isaac asked.

"No, second year." Velvet said.

From what Ozpin had told him, Beacon Academy was designed to train warriors that fight the Grimm. This girl didn't seem like any kind of warrior to Isaac. "That's good. I'll be the new head of engineering. If you ever need anything feel free to ask." Isaac said offering help.

Velvet seemed surprised by the offer, "Really?" She asked.

"Of course." Isaac said offering a smile.

Velvet seemed a bit more relaxed when she returned to her food. Isaac was happy to help this girl. She seemed like she could use more friends. Isaac stood up and was about to go when Velvet place a hand on his shoulder. "Umm… Could you please not go?" She asked.

Isaac was confused, why didn't she want him to leave? "Is something wrong?" He asked.

Velvet looked around and then turned back to Isaac, "I just want someone near by, that's all." She said.

Isaac was following Velvet's gaze and he spotted what she was looking at. On the other side of the hall was four students glaring at Velvet. If Isaac had to guess the four students were bullies and the only thing stopping them from coming over to harassing Velvet was Isaac. Isaac nodded, "I am just going to get a cup of coffee. I'll be right back." Isaac said walking back to the food bar and pouring himself a cup of coffee.

When he was walking back to his seat he saw the four boys from earlier surrounding Velvet. His gambit had worked.

"Looks like your guardian angel left you." One of the boys said.

"Please don't…" Velvet said weakly.

"Oh, what's wrong? Not happy to see your old pal? Come on, let's play a game!" Another one of the boys said grabbing Velvet's rabbit ears and pulling on them.

"Please! That hurts!" Velvet said letting out a cry of pain.

Isaac decided it was time to move in. "What is going on here?" Isaac asked the four boys in his most intimidating voice.

Isaac could see the four boys jump a bit. The tallest boy turned to face Isaac, "Oh nothing. We were just talking to our good friend here." He said.

"That right?" Isaac asked. "Well Velvet and I were having a wonderful conversation about what happens when people break their bones. Would you like to join our conversation?" Isaac asked cracking his knuckles but keeping a smile on his face.

The four boys shivered, "No sir! We were just leaving." One of them said causing them all to shuffle away.

Isaac sat back down in his seat. "You okay?" He asked Velvet.

Velvet nodded, "I'm fine. Thank you." She said.

"No problem. If they ever bother you again don't be afraid to come to me. I'll set them straight." Isaac said getting a chuckle out of Velvet.

Suddenly Isaac's scroll buzzed in his pocket. Isaac pulled it out and read the message. 'Please come to the main hall in fifteen minutes.'

Isaac let out a sigh and stood up, "I'm sorry Velvet but I have to go." He said.

Velvet nodded, "I understand." She said also standing up. "I'm just about done anyways."

Isaac smiled a bit, when he first meet Velvet she was a shaking ball of anxiety. Although Isaac didn't do much it seemed he had some sort of impact on her. Isaac and Velvet parted ways with Isaac heading towards the the main hall.

It took him a while but he found his destination. Isaac walked into the hall to find students standing in front of the stage. Isaac made his way past them and towards the stage where Ozpin and Glynda were standing.

"I see you made it." Ozpin said to Isaac as he walked on stage.

Isaac nodded, "You've got a big school here." He said.

"I'm glad it impressed you." Ozpin said and then turned to the mic on the stage. "Students, as you know the previous head of engineering left to pursue other career options. So I have called on a old friend to fill his position." Ozpin said as Isaac walked forward on the stage.

Isaac felt a bit embarrassed in the spotlight like this but he didn't want to show it to the students. So he stood as still as he could. "Isaac will be the new head of engineering at Beacon. He has been in the field for the last twenty years and this is his first time back in civilization. So I do ask that all of you respect his privacy." Ozpin said finishing up his speech and walking off the stage.

Isaac was happy Ozpin had made the comment about his time away. It gave him an excuse to not be caught up on current events and gave him some privacy. It was a clever move. Isaac was about to walk off the stage and head back to the engineering lab and get to work researching the symbol he had seen and the Markers when Glynda stopped him. "Before you go don't forget you have a class in thirty minutes." She said.

Isaac sighed, he had almost forgot about the class. It was a into class in engineering and he would be teaching the first years. Luckily the class wasn't that long as was only once a week but Isaac didn't know the first thing about teaching. Isaac nodded in response, "Understood." He said.

"Please do try your best. Beacon does have a reputation to uphold." Glynda said walking away leaving Isaac alone.

Isaac scoffed, what could possibly go wrong? Then again with his luck it would be considered a good day if only a few of the students died.

* * *

Isaac stood in front of the white board in the engineering lab waiting for the class. Ozpin had decided it would be easier for Isaac to teach in the lab rather than a classroom. Isaac didn't really mind he just wanted to get class over with as soon as possible.

Isaac was thinking about what he would do the first class when the first of the students began to walk in. "I don't see why I have to be here?" One of the students said. She looked very young to be at a school for warriors. She had short red or black hair, Isaac really couldn't tell.

"We have to be here so do you." Another student said in response. This student had snow white hair tied up in a pony tail.

"It won't be that bad sis. Who knows maybe you learn something new?" A blond haired student said putting an arm around the red haired student from earlier.

"I doubt that." The black haired girl said under her breath.

Isaac watched as the rest of the first year students walked into the engineering lab. Isaac looked over all his new students. Most of them looked like they didn't want to be here but that didn't bother Isaac.

Isaac cleared his throat to catch the attention of his students. "Welcome to Engineering. As most of you may know my name is Isaac Clarke. You may call me Isaac during class." Isaac said pulling a nearby white board and writing his name down. Isaac paused for a moment as he went over his plan.

"The objective of this class is simple, to understand the world around you." Isaac said.

One of the students raised their hands, "That doesn't make any sense." The student said.

"It may not make sense now but when this class is over you will know what I am talking about. The first thing we will be doing is understanding the weapons of your trade." Isaac said. "Before we get any further I have a feeling you have some questions. Let's get this out of the way. Ask me anything." He said.

A blond haired student raised her hand, "How old are you?" She asked.

"Ask me anything but that." Isaac answered.

"What was it like been working in the field?" Another student asked.

"It was lonely. I did most of the work on my own. I had a partner for a bit but he moved on." Isaac answered speaking from a familiar truth.

"What were you doing in the field?" Another student asked.

"Researching ancient artifacts." Isaac responded. It wasn't a lie but it wasn't the truth.

The same blond student raised her hand, "Are you sure you can't tell us how old you are?" She asked again.

"Yang!" The black haired girl said elbowing Yang.

Isaac sighed, "Maybe one day I'll answer that question. For now we gotta move on, any more questions?" Isaac asked.

No one raised their hand. "Okay good. Now each of you has been assigned a partner her at Beacon. I want each of you to trade weapon with your partner." Isaac said causing a few students to talk amongst themselves.

It took a while but eventually everyone had their partners weapon. Isaac wasn't sure to laugh or be concerned when he watched the black haired girl from earlier talk to her weapon like a child. With everyone now holding their partners weapons Isaac set the rest of his plan into action.

"For the next hour I want to you learning everything about your partner's weapon. How does it work? What are its strengths? Weakness? I want you to reverse engineer the weapon of your partner. You have an hour." Isaac said as most of the students looked around in confusion.

A student with white hair raised her hand, "I don't understand. What will this accomplish?" She asked.

"I hope you have that answer for me in an hour." Isaac said, "Now, you have an hour. If you need any help ask but try and solve the problem on your own." Isaac said letting the students loose.

It took a little bit but eventually all the students went to work. With the students working on their own Isaac decided it was time to sit back and relaxe. Letting the students do their own work was a lot easier than teaching them how to create weapon designed to kill horrors from another world. Isaac pulled up a chair and sat back in the seat closing his eyes.

For a few minutes Isaac enjoyed the peace. Sure the students were running around but chaos was like a symphony to Isaac. The right kind of tempo could put him right to sleep these days. Isaac imagined a simpler life. Ellie, a daughter, and him. A small family living together not worrying about any kind of extraterrestrial nightmare. Isaac was living in his dream when heard some clear their throat.

Isaac opened his eyes to see the girl with red hair standing in front of his desk holding a giant red scythe. "Weiss isn't treating Crescent Rose with respect." She said holding the weapon tighter.

Isaac was baffled, "Excuse me?" He asked. Did she named her weapon? Sure it wasn't crazy for soldiers in the army to name their gun but she held her gun the same way you would hold a child.

"I told her Crescent Rose is special and not to touch this part here." She said pointing to a broken piece on her weapon. "See, she broke it!" The girl said almost coming to tears.

"Do you need parts to fix it?" Isaac asked hoping to get back to his nap.

"I would but I'm not sure what she did. I was hoping you could find the problem." She said.

Isaac shook his head. He never thought anyone would be this attached to their weapons. Then again he carried his plasma cutter everywhere he went. Isaac picked up the massive weapon and examined the broken part. The first thing he noticed was how heavy the weapon was. He had a hard time imagining this little girl charging into battle with this weapon. Taking a closer look he found the problem.

Isaac walked over the a cabinet and pulled out several small metal parts. He then put the parts on his desk and went to work. Within minutes he had solved the problem. "There you are." Isaac said handing the weapon back to the girl.

The girl felt the weapon in her hand, she pulled the trigger several times and swung the blade. "What did you do?" She asked.

"I fixed it." Isaac said.

"I know that but it's so much more smoother now. There was always a delay when I pulled trigger and now it is gone. What did you do?" The girl said almost jumping up and down out of excitement.

"See this." Isaac said pointing to a part of the weapon. "It was too tight. Sure it made the firing mechanism more accurate but you were sacrificing speed with how tight it was." He said.

The girl slapped her forehead, "Of course. I can't believe I never saw that." Suddenly she blushed, "Oh, I forgot to tell you my name. It's Ruby." She said offering Isaac a hand.

Isaac shook her hand, "It is nice to meet your Ruby but don't you have something you should be doing right now?" He asked.

"Oh yeah." Ruby said her head dropping a bit. Then she shot back up. "Hey can I come after class and look at your weapon?" Ruby asked.

"You want to look at my weapon?" Isaac responded.

"Well yeah. Anyone who knows this much about weapons must have something super awesome cool." Ruby said karate chopping the air in front of her.

Isaac shook his head, "I'm sorry Ruby but I rather like my privacy. Maybe one day I'll show it to you though." He said.

"Oh, alright." Ruby said disappointed and slowly walking back to her desk.

Isaac didn't like disappointing children like this but the further away these kids stayed away from him the safer they would be. Isaac sat back down in his chair and leaned back. The next hour flew past him. Everyone seemed confused by the lesson but none the less learned something. With that out of the way Isaac ended the class early.

With his class over Isaac set out to work. Grabbing a journal from his room her headed to the library. After the vision he quickly drew the symbol he had seen on the box. He had never seen it before in his life and nethire had anyone he asked. He hoped he could find something in the library about the symbol.

Isaac was impressed with the size of the libra. The bookshelves seemed to stretch on forever and there were two floors of books. Luckily something called the Vytal Festival was only a few days away and most kids were spending their time after class practicing their skills. This worked out for Isaac, he had all the alone time he would need.

Setting right out to work Isaac grabbed a history book from the shelf. He had learned a lot from Glynda and Ozpin about the history of this world but maybe he was missing something. Some sort of key piece in the past that would solve the mystery. Isaac spent a hour looking over the book from front for cover. He learned a bit more but nothing relating to the symbol.

He did find the history behind the treatment of Fannus interesting. He couldn't blame them for hating Humanity for what they had done. At the same time he could see why Humanity feared and hated the Fannus. When the Fannus came together they were a deadly force.

Isaac had learned nothing about the symbol or any kind of history about the Markers. It seemed he had reached a dead end. With a heavy sigh Isaac put the book back and decided he would come back tomorrow. Next time he would look online for anything relating to the Markers or the symbol.

Isaac was putting his book back when he noticed one of his students sitting alone. Isaac wanted to ignore her but he was curious. Why wasn't she training like all the other students? Against his better judgment, Isaac walked up to the student. "Excuse me." Isaac said.

The girl looked up from her book, "Oh, how can I help you?" She asked.

"Sorry to bother you but I got curious. Why aren't you training with the rest of your team?" He asked.

"Well it's because of you sir. Ruby said she was going to visit you after class so without a leader we all went our separate ways. Yang is training, Weiss is practicing some secret technique, and I wanted to get some studying done." She said.

"I'm surprised a teacher would assign homework or some sort of test so close to the Vytal festival." Isaac said.

"It happens." The girl said rather quickly getting back to her book.

Isaac decided to not push the subject. Then something crossed his mind, this girl said Ruby was coming to visit him after class. He had told her that he didn't want to share his gun. Did she need something else?

Hoping that whatever she needed would be a easy fix Isaac made his way back to the engineering lab. To his surprise there was no one waiting outside the door. He guessed that Ruby either got boarded or solve her problem. Pulling out his scroll he went to unlock the door but to his surprise it was already open. He had forgotten to lock it.

Isaac pulled out his Plasma cutter and slowly opened the door. He peaked around the corner to find no one inside the lab. But that didn't mean he could drop his guard. Isaac slowly tiptoed towards his room. He placed his ear against the door tried to hear the other side.

He wasn't sure to be relieved or shocked when he heard nothing on the other side. He knew whatever broke in had to be on the other side. Rather than have another Necromorph jump on him, he decided it was time for Isaac Clarke to get the drop on the Necromorph. Backing up a bit he kicked the door and charged in ready to blast the nearest enemy.

What he found however was Ruby putting her hands up. "Don't shoot!" She shouted.

Isaac shook his head and put his plasma cutter away. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I'm sorry. I know you said that you didn't want to show me your weapon but I wanted to ask if you could take another look at Crescent Rose. I was hoping you could help me improve it somehow. I knocked a bunch but then the door opened on its own. I got curious. I'm sorry." She said looking at her feet with her hands behind her back .

Isaac looked around the room, it didn't look like she touched anything. "Did you touch anything. It is very important that you tell me." He said grabbing Ruby shoulders.

"No, I didn't touch anything…. Well I touched one thing." Ruby said fear on her face and ready to start crying.

Isaac had destroyed the Marker to the best of his abilities but was keeping a small piece of the marker in his desk. He was hoping he could get more information out of the remaining piece. It wasn't the best place to hide it but he decided better with him than anyone else. It seemed his decision could end up hurting more than helping. "What did you touch!?" Isaac shouted gripping Ruby even tighter.

Ruby began to start crying, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She said tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry I touched your robot." She said pointing to Isaac's suit.

Isaac let go of Ruby a sudden wave of relief washed over him. "Is that is?" He asked.

Ruby nodded. "I promise. I didn't touch anything else. Am I in trouble?" She asked wiping tears from her eyes.

Isaac gulped. Maybe yelling at a young girl wasn't the best idea. "No… just go home. But come back tomorrow after class. Understood?" Isaac asked.

Ruby nodded. "Yes." She said.

"Its alright. I'm not mad, I just want to you stay safe." Isaac said patting Ruby on the head.

"What in here could hurt me?" Ruby asked.

"You be surprised." Isaac said. "Now get back to your dorm." Isaac said leading Ruby out of the engineering lab. Isaac closed the door behind Ruby and let out a breath of relief. He got lucky this time. He would have to be more careful in the future.

Isaac went back to his room and looked at his suit. He could understand Ruby thinking it was a robot. Isaac ran his hand along the armor of the suit. It was scratched, burnt, and had a bit of dry blood on it. It was hard to believe anyone could be alive inside. Maybe it was time time to update his suit?

Isaac was so distracted by memory lane that he almost jumped when scroll went off. "Isaac Clarke speaking." Isaac said into his scroll.

"Hello Isaac, how as your first day?" Ozpin asked through the other end.

"Fine, seems your students are a bit curious though." Isaac said sitting down on his bed.

"They didn't find anything did they?" Ozpin asked.

"No but it was close. I think we should update the security in the engineering lab." Isaac said.

"Alright. Now the reason I called you. We got reports of some sort of White Fang meeting in downtown vale tonight." Ozpin said.

If Isaac remembered correctly the White Fang was a terrorist group made up of Fanus. "Why are you tell me?" He asked.

"One of my agents spotted the same symbol you had in your vision." Ozpin said.

Isaac stood up, "What time is the meeting" He asked clenching his fist.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Beginning of a beautiful relationship**

Silence, that was all Isaac had ever known since the Ishimura. As he sat on top of a roof in the middle of the night, he was more home than ever before. Ozpin had told Isaac that the meeting was located inside an abandoned warehouse.

Per Ozpin's instructions, the agent would meet Isaac on top of the roof as soon as possible. So Isaac sat, in silence. His suit generated heat to keep himself warm but no matter how hot he would turn the suits internal temperature, he would still feel the cold metal on his skin.

Isaac was drifting off in thought when he heard something coming from behind him. Without hesitating he quickly stood up and pointed his plasma cutter to the source of the noise. The source of the noise was a young man in a strange costume with his hands up.

"Hold up! Don't shoot, I'm Ozpin's agent." The young man said.

"Prove it." Isaac said not dropping his weapon.

The young man sighed and suddenly the air around him became warped. In a puff of smoke the young man was gone and in front of Isaac was a new young man. He had dark skin and deep brown eyes. He had curly hair with a purple accent. It also seemed he liked the color purple as he wore a sleeveless purple tank top, dark purple jeans, and black shoes.

The young man put his hand out, "I'm Lavender." He said.

Isaac put his weapon away and shook the young man's hand, "Isaac. Neat trick." He said.

The young man beamed, "Isn't? All I need to do is think about what I want to look like and-" He said as the air around him wrapped and in an instant he was the same young man dressed in the strange costume from before, "I can be anyone I want." He said dropping the illusion once again and returning to his original form.

"So, Ozpin told me you found a clue?" Isaac asked.

The young man nodded and pulled a small piece of paper from his back pocket. "I've been in this cell for a while now. They just came back from a raid on the docks and brought back a crate with this symbol on it." He said handing the paper to Isaac.

Isaac took the piece of paper in his hands. It was the same symbol from before. Three stars arranged from top to bottom. This time however the symbol was more detailed. Included was four smaller stars that surrounded the three smaller stars in a circle.

"So, what's with the robot suit?" The young man asked Isaac.

Isaac looked from the paper, "Excuse me?" He asked.

The young man shrugged his shoulders, "Well, you don't see to many people walking around in a suit of armor like that. So what's the back story? You lose your legs? Arms?" The young man gasped. "Did you lose your arms and legs?" He asked.

Isaac shook his head, "No, it just helps me get the job done." He said.

The young man took a piece of gum and began to chew on it, "And what job is that?" He asked.

Isaac didn't have time for this. "I'm going in there. Are you going to fight with me or am I going in solo?" He asked.

The young man shook his head, "Sorry, I'm a lover, not a fighter. Your own your own. But your a fully fledged Hunter right? This should be a piece of cake for you." He said sitting down and pulling a small gaming device.

"Good luck." The young man said not looking up.

Most people would be frustrated going on alone, but Isaac only smiled. He worked better alone. Isaac took a moment to stretch out his muscles before jumping off the roof and to the street below. His suit absorbed most of the impact as he rushed forward towards the warehouse.

The warehouse was easily three stories tall and looked like it had been abandoned for a few years. Moss and vines clutched the foundation of the building while holes in the roof let the moon shine down. Isaac's first target were the massive double doors of the warehouse. He could sneak around the back but if Isaac was being honest, he needed to let out some steam.

Grabbing a sticky grenade from his belt he threw it as the double doors and in an instant the doors were blown back. Isaac rushed into the building to find at least thirty white fang members standing in front of a stage. The white fang members had set up lights inside the building and on the stage was massive woman with a even bigger sword on her back.

The entire group of white fang member stood in silence as Isaac slowly entered the building his metal boots hitting the concrete with each footstep. Finally when the smoke was cleared and they could clearly see what was ahead of them it was no wonder they froze in place.

Isaac set his plasma cutter to the lowest setting and gestured for them to attack. The fear of watching their doors being blowdown and what looked like a advanced robot walking inside seemed to fade away as the woman on the stage pulled her sword out.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get that thing!" The apparent boss shouted to her underlinings.

Six of the white fang members charged forward, weapons raised high. Isaac wasted not time and shoot two of the white fang members in the leg. The power from his plasma cutter wasn't enough to cut their limbs off but would render them useless for a while. The remaining four began to close in on Isaac, leaving him little room to maneuver. Isaac had never taken any kind of class on hand to hand combat but years of fighting necromorphs turned him into a skilled warrior.

The first goon charged forward with a mace in his hand. Isaac punched the charging enemy in the stomach causing him to keel over. Isaac wasn't done however. While on the ground Isaac stomped on the white fang member's back. Isaac then delivered a powerful kick to the white fang members face sending him flying into a nearby wall. The next opponent fired three bullets at Isaac's shoulder but the bullets simply bounced off his suit. Isaac fired a blast of stasis energy at his opponent slowing them down. With this opportunity Isaac rushed forward and lifted the slowed white fang member over his shoulder. Isaac then punched the white fang member in the gut as he slowly fell. When the stasis finally wore off the white fan ember was sent flying into a nearby crate, knocking him out.

Another white fang member charged at him with a sword at her side. She slashed at Isaac leaving him little room to dodge the attack at the last second. Isaac swung his fist at the white fang member only for her to duck under his fist. Isaac was hoping she would duck. Isaac kneed the white fang member who had ducked under his swing. Isaac then brought his fist down on her back causing her to pass out on the ground. The finale white fang member, shaking in his boots charged forward with a small knife. Isaac caught the knife inches away from his body. He then twisted the white fang members arm, snapping it. He then grabbed the back of the white fang members head and slammed it on the ground, knocking him out as well.

Isaac turned the face the rest of the white fang members, "Who's next?" He asked.

All but the boss dropped their weapon and ran out the building afraid of the metal monstrosity in front of them. The boss sneered at Isaac, "So, you're not a machine then." She said jumping off the stage.

"I'm just a man looking for answers. You can give up now, or we can do this the hard way." Isaac said.

The woman spit, "You will choke on your own blood as you die." She said.

"Hard way it is." He said as the boss charged forward swinging her massive sword at Isaac. Despite the size of the sword Isaac was doing his best to dodge each blow. They seemed to come from almost every angle.

Isaac was being back up against a wall and saw no way out. Finally the white fan boss landed a blow and cut Isaac's arm, "Die!" She shouted going in for the killing blow.

Isaac saw a tiny opening and went for it. Reaching his hand out he used his kinetic to pull a nearby crate towards him. The crate slammed into the back of the white fan boss causing her to back up and let out a cry of pain. Isaac then gripped the white fang members shirt and with all his might he delivered a powerful headbut.

Isaac's helmet was covered in blood as the white fang boss dropped to the floor. Isaac took a second to breath, his heavy breathing echoing throughout the building.

"Wow, not bad there." Lavender said walking into the building. He squatted down and spit in the boss's face. "This will teach you to give me the carp assignments." He said.

"Alright, where the box or crate you said was here?" Isaac asked wiping the blood from his helmet.

"Hold on a moment, I'll go get it." Lavender said disappearing. Isaac looked around but found no trace of lavender. He let out sigh and leaned up against the wall.

It had been a hard fight but it was worth it. He was one step closer to finding out what his visions meant. After waiting for a few minutes Lavender seemed to reappear out of thin air. "Here you are." He said handing Isaac a small carved wooden box with the symbol on it.

Isaac held the box in his hand. He was a bit afraid of opening it. Isaac opened the lid of the box to find a small leather box. Isaac picked up the book and began to skim through it. To his surprise he found a wealth of knowledge. The book talked about an ancient structure that would cause men to go insane and revive the dead. It sounded like a Marker to Isaac.

Isaac flipped to the cover and found a name ingrained on the leather, ' ' the name read. Isaac handed the book to Lavender, "Ever heard of this guy?" Isaac asked.

Lavender shook his head, "Nope, but I could do some research for you." He said.

"Thanks let me know when you find something." Isaac said.

* * *

This time when the alarm went off Isaac slammed his fist down on the snooze button. Sitting up Isaac rubbed his eyes, he had barely gotten any sleep after he had gotten back from the warehouse. He had reported to Ozpin about his discovery and then had to help fill out a police report. Apparently Isaac had used a bit of excessive force, but the cops turned a blind eyes this once.

Getting out of bed Isaac started his routine. Shower, brush his teeth, and get dressed. It was odd for him. He couldn't remember when he had a schedule like this before. For a few seconds while he was getting dressed he half expected some sort of alarm to go off. He expected his one day of peace to be over but it wasn't.

Isaac headed to the cafeteria and got breakfast. Velvet wasn't there but Isaac didn't mind. After eating and drinking a cup of coffee he went back to his lab. He grabbed some tools and went to work on his suit. He had some time before his class started so this was the best time to make some repairs. The cut from last night wasn't too deep but Isaac liked to keep his suit in top condition. He had only spent a half hour repairing it when there was a knock at the door.

Getting up he headed out to the lab and opened the door, in front of him was a short young woman with green hair. She also had deep red eyes which reminded Isaac of blood. "Can I help you?" He asked.

"I hope so. My name is Emerald and I was wondering if you could look at my weapon. I think something is wrong but I can't figure out what." She said pulling out two green guns connected by a steel chain.

Isaac took her weapon from her, "Alright then, come back in a few hours and they should be good to go." He said.

"Um, actually I was hoping I could watch. I want to know what the problem is so I don't have to come back again." She said.

Isaac mentally sighed but waved her inside. Isaac set down her weapon on table and grabbed his weapons from his room. Emerald pulled up a chair next to him as he began to take apart the weapon and find out what the problem was.

Isaac was working in silence when Emerald cleared her throat. "Um… So…. You just start her?" She asked.

Isaac didn't look up from his work, "Yup." He responded.

"What did you do before teach?" She asked.

"Research." Isaac said giving another one word response.

"What kind of research?" Emerald probed.

Isaac stopped working for a moment, "Listen, I'm trying to work here. I like to work in silence. See the problem?" He asked.

Emerald put her hands up, "Jezz, just wanted to be friendly." She said.

Isaac sighed, "Sorry, I'm not really a talker." He said.

"Alright that's fine." She said.

Isaac went back to work and found the problem. One of the hinges for the trigger was missing. Isaac was a bit confused. A part like that couldn't be damaged without the entire gun taking damage. Isaac was about to stand up and grab a hinge when his head began to hurt. It was like his brain was on fire. Isaac shook his head hoping to shake away the pain.

"Are you alright?" Emerald asked surprised.

As soon as she asked the pain went away, "Yeah, I'm fine. You're missing a hinge in your trigger. I'll be right back with it." He said walking over to one of the cabinets and grabbing a hinge. Sitting back down it took him no time to put in the replacement hinge.

"There, they should work fine now." He said handing Emerald the weapons.

"Oh.. thanks." Emerald said almost sounding disappointed.

Then another sharp pain ringed in Isaac's head. It was like before but much worse. The only pain he could connect it to was the pain he felt on Titan station when they were screwing with his mind. Isaac grabbed his head in the hopes the pain would go away.

"Are you sure you're alright? You look like you're in pain." Emerald said placing a hand on Isaac's shoulder.

Isaac shook his head, "I got a headache. Don't worry about me. Now if you'll excuse me, my class start soon." He said pushing Emerald out of the lab and closing the door behind her.

Isaac stood gripping his head with both of his hands trying to make the pain go away. He stood there for a few seconds and finally the pain went away. Isaac let out a sigh of relief. But he was a bit worried. Was he relapsing from his time on Titian? Was the Marker trying to mess with him again? Isaac shook these thoughts away, he had bigger problems right now. He didn't really have a plan to teach his class today.

* * *

"Alright everyone. That's class for today, I'll see you all tomorrow." Isaac said waving his students out of the lab. "Not you, you stay right there." Isaac said pointing at Ruby.

"Sucks to be you." A blond student next to Yang said.

"Shut up." Ruby said pushing the blond student away.

When all the students had left Isaac walked up to Ruby and sat down. "So, why did you feel the need to break into my room?" Isaac asked.

"I didn't mean to! The door was already open." Ruby said defending herself.

"I told you I liked my privacy but you went into my room when I wasn't there." Isaac almost shouted at Ruby.

"I'm sorry." Ruby said dropping her head.

Isaac shook his head, "Just don't do it again. In the meantime I have a job for you." Isaac said. "I haven't had a chance to organize my cabinets yet. So that's going to be your job today." He said.

Ruby gasped, "That's not fair! The Vytal festival is only a few weeks away. I need to get in all the practicing I can." She said.

"You have to face some sort of punishment for entering my room while I wasn't there. I think this is only appropriate. If you're so interested in me than you can get to know the lab even better." Isaac said.

Ruby let out a groan. "Fine." She said standing up and getting to work.

Isaac didn't really want to punish her but he kinda had to. He couldn't let the students roam around in his room as they please. Not only did the remaining pieces of the Marker prove a threat but if they dug too deep Isaac would be forced to answer a lot of questions. Isaac sat up and was about to work on some improvements to his suit when he scroll vibrated.

Isaac pulled out his scroll and found a text message. 'Found professor. Go to this address.' The message read with an attached address. Isaac turned to Ruby, "I'm going to step out for a bit, I'll be back soon." He said walking out of the lab and towards the airships.

* * *

Isaac stood in front of the house that matched the address he had received. It was a small house. It was two stories and was made from wood. It was yellow paint that was chipping and beige painted door. Isaac walked up to the door and knocked. He wasn't sure what he expect but hopefully the professor could shed some light on his journal.

Suddenly the door swung open and behind it was a young man. He was rather short and had raven black hair. His eyes were a shining yellow and his face was rather thin. He wore a thick pair of glasses over his face that made his eyes look much bigger. He also wore a dark green shirt and brown shorts. To Isaac's surprise he wasn't wearing any shoes. The young man put his hand out to Isaac, "Hello there, my name is Olive Watson." Olive said.

Isaac shook Olive's hand, "Nice to meet you, is your father home?" Isaac asked.

Olive became a bit sullen, "Oh I see, they didn't tell you. My father died a few years ago." He said.

"I'm so sorry I didn't mean any harm." Isaac said apologizing.

"It's okay… Anyways, come in. I understand you had some questions about my father's journal?" Olive asked leading Isaac inside.

The inside of the house looked like it was falling apart too. Pictures of Olive and what looked like to be his family hung on the walls of the house. Olive lead Isaac to the living room with a large rug and two large chairs. "Please, sit. Do you like tea?" Olive asked.

"Sure." Isaac said taking a seat.

"Oh good. I'll be right back, I had a put ready just for this." Olive said running off and returning with a small pot.

Olive handed Isaac a cup and poured him some tea. "Sugar?" Olive asked.

Isaac put his hand up, "No thank you." He said.

Olive nodded and poured himself a cup. He than took the seat opposite to Isaac. "So, what kind of questions did you have about my father?" Olive asked.

Isaac couldn't tell him that he thought Olive's father was linked to an ancient device that would bring death and ruin to the world. He need something a bit more passive. That's when he remembered the message he had gotten from Lavender on the ride over. Apparently the White Fang had stolen the journal along with other precious artifacts from the local university. "I'm here to follow up on the recent break in. Your father's journal was stolen and I wanted to make sure it was in the same condition before it was stolen." Isaac said.

"I took a look through the journal and nothing appears to be missing." Olive said taking out the journal. "After my father and mother passed most of my father's research went back to the university. But, some of his personal research I was able to keep." He said.

"If you don't mind me asking what exactly was your father researching?" Isaac asked.

Olive smiled at the question, "You might think me crazy but my father believed he found something extraordinary hidden away."

"Oh, what did he find?" Isaac asked already knowing the answer.

"He called it a Marker. Ancient text said it was a terrible structure that would bring the dead back to life." Olive said waving his hands a bit adding fanfair.

"Interesting, I've been doing some research about this same subject exactly." Isaac said speaking a little too close to the truth.

Olive stood up, "Really!?" He asked ready to drop dead from excitement.

"Yes, to be honest I was about to do more in depth research but unfortunately all I have gotten is dead ends." Isaac said.

Olive grabbed Isaac's hand, "This way." He said leading Isaac down the hall and to the back room. Olive opened the door to reveal a small study. The study had maps and ancient texts all over the walls. "What if I told you my father found the Marker." Olive said.

"Well, I think I would have to investigate it further." Isaac said.

Olive beamed as he pulled out one of the maps. "Most of my father's peers laughed at him. But one day my father said he discovered where the Marker was located. He left for a few weeks but when he came back…." Suddenly all of Olive's excitement seemed to disappear. "He said he didn't find anything. But something wasn't right. He devoted his whole life to finding it. There was no way he simply didn't find anything. He wouldn't make a mistake like that!" Olive said slamming his hand down.

Isaac put a hand on Olive's shoulder, "Are you alright?" Isaac asked.

"Oh sorry." Olive said sighing. "I'm sorry, I'm just very passionate about this. When I was a child my father would let me help him research. He would stay up late together and find the answers to the riddles." He said. "When my father returned and reported he found nothing, the university took his funding. He was heartbroken, then one day he disappeared." Olive's eyes began to tear up, "Then… Then… they found his body wash up on the shore. He had jumped off the cliffs." Olive said beginning to cry.

Isaac reached a hand forward wanting to comfort Olive but he wasn't sure what to say. What could he truly say that would make Olive feel better.

Olive wiped the tears from his face, "I tried to pick up where he left off but I couldn't figure it out. His journal made no mention of the location of the Marker." He said pulling the journal and flipping through. "I never understood why. He devoted his life to this. Even if he was wrong he would have left some sort of trail behind." Olive said. "But you believe me right? The Marker has to be out there somewhere!" Olive said turning to Isaac.

"I believe you. I want to find this Marker not only for your father but some of my close friends." Isaac said.

Olive looked down at the journal and then handed it to Isaac, "Take it, I know the answers in there somewhere. Maybe you can figure it out." He said.

"I won't rest until I do!" Isaac said giving Olive a thumbs up.

Olive smiled, "Amazing, truly amazing! Alright once you find the location of the Marker let me know! I have to see it for myself." He said.

Isaac didn't want to keep a promise like that. If his father truly found the Marker he most likely hid his trail so no one else would. He knew no one could destroy it and didn't want his son to die trying. But Isaac couldn't give Olive the cold shoulder like that. When the time came he would take Olive along, but set up some rules first. "Alright, I'll let you know when I make a breakthrough." Isaac said.

"Wonderful! I think this calls for a celebration. It's not every day two men of science join forces." Olive said.

"Maybe latter, I should be getting back to Beacon now." Isaac said.

"I understand. I'll begin working on my end and see if I can find anything. I'll give you a call if I do." Olive said leading Isaac back to the front door.

"Thanks." Isaac responded.

Olive shook Isaac's hand, "Together, we will find the Marker."

* * *

When Isaac returned to Beacon it had gotten rather late. He would have to make sure and not keep this late night schedule anymore. He hated waking up so tired in the morning more than anything else.

Isaac made his way back to his lab and opened the door. When he opened it he found Ruby still working on the cabinets. There were bags under her eyes and her movements were sluggish and tired.

"Oh, hi." Ruby said to Isaac when he walked in.

Isaac mentally slapped himself, he had completely forgotten about Ruby. "I'm so sorry Ruby." Isaac said.

"It's okay, I'm almost done." Ruby said.

Isaac shook his head, "It's okay, I can do the rest. You go home and get some sleep." He said.

"Okay." Ruby said walking towards the door but then collapsing in front of Isaac.

Isaac felt sorry for her. Maybe he had been a bit too rough on her. He would have to make it up to her in some way. If he remembered correctly she wanted to see Isaac's weapon. Maybe he could arrange some sort of demonstration for her. Isaac picked up the sleeping child and began to carry her back to her room.

It took a while but Isaac found the correct door and opened the room. To his surprise he found a pair of bunk beds. He didn't remember any Beacon ever issuing bunk beds outs. Isaac placed Ruby on the top bunk and quietly closed the door behind him. Heading back to his room he looked up at the stars and moon.

Somewhere out in the vast emptiness was his true home. But maybe for a little while, he could call this place home.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Stronger than blood**

A scream in the middle of the night woke Isaac from his sleep. Jumping out of bed Isaac grabbed a coat from his closet. He rushed out of the room and out of the lab. He continued to run towards the source of the scream.

Finally he found a young boy laying face down in the courtyard. There was a pool of blood under his body. It didn't take long for a crowd of students and teachers to surround the body and Isaac who was knelt over it.

"Who is it?"

"They're not wearing a uniform."

"I've never seen him before."

The voices of the students and teachers around Isaac murmured. Isaac slowly approached the body and tapped at it twice. His past experiences with dead bodies had been anything but pleasant. Isaac then flipped the body over to reveal the face of the boy.

Isaac jumped back in shock. It was the body of the young boy from the village. Slowly the body rose up and pointed at Isaac, "You can't run. You killed me. You have to take responsibility. This is your fault. Your real monster!" The boy said in a menacing voice blood pouring out of his mouth.

Isaac tackled the young boy and then stood up. With all his might he began to stomp on the boy's limbs. Throughout the entire process the boy simply cackled with a smile on his face.

Finally the boy went limp and Isaac was covered in blood. It wasn't warm. It was colder than ice.

"Murder."

"Monster."

"Villain." The voices around Isaac seemed to chant.

Suddenly Isaac felt something drip on his face. He wiped it away but another drop came. The sky turned a dark shade of red as blood rained down on Isaac. The bodies of the students and teachers twisted and turned until they were the same monsters Isaac had been trying to escape.

Isaac knew this was a dream. He also knew nothing he could do would wake him. So he had little choice, he would have to live the nightmare out. Running past the necromorphs that were once students and teachers as he had destination in mind. Of course the necromorphs took swings at him but the worst they were able to do was lightly scratch Isaac.

Isaac made it past the necromorphs and down the hallway to his room. He would need his suit and his plasma cutter. As he ran the walls around him began to shift and turn. Suddenly the walls became living flesh as students in Isaac's class appeared all around him. They all slowly walked towards Isaac, there eyes nothing more than empty black holes.

"Protect us."

"Shield us."

"Don't let us die." The students said grabbing and pulling at Isaac.

Isaac shook them off and finally made it to his lab. When he opened the door he was shocked to find his suit standing up on its own. Not only that, it was fighting Ruby. Ruby was doing her best to fight the suit but nothing she did had any impact. Finally the suit grabbed Ruby by the neck and threw her to the ground.

"No!" Isaac shouted running towards Ruby and the suit but his feet were caught on something. When he looked down he found himself slowly being immersed in a pool of blood.

Isaac watched as the suit stepped on Ruby's limbs snapping them off. The whole time Ruby screamed and cried reaching out to Isaac. She begged him to help her. Isaac tried to climb out of the pool of blood but it was like quicksand. No matter what he did, he seemed to sink deeper into the hole. Isaac watched helplessly as Ruby cried and screamed for help.

Then Isaac watched as the suit lifted up its foot and with one might stomp crushed Ruby's head spraying Isaac in blood. Isaac let out a scream but his lungs were quickly filled with blood. Before he closed his eyes, Isaac was a woman with glowing yellow eyes staring right at him.

* * *

Isaac awoke from his nightmare covered in sweat. His entire body was shaking. Isaac slowly began to breath, like he had just ran a marathon. Isaac reached up to his lip and found some blood. He quickly wiped it away and jumped out of bed.

He quickly ran to the toilet and began to throw up his dinner from last night. Isaac, the hero of the Humanity, was currently kneeling over a toilet with vomit on his lips. Isaac felt terrible, he knew what he had seen was a dream but it still shook his very core.

Isaac felt like he should go over his dream again. He might find some sort of hidden message about the Markers. But deep down Isaac knew it wasn't the Markers who caused him to have the nightmare. Isaac was torturing himself. Time and time again everyone he had gotten close to ending up dying.

Isaac knew that if he keep sticking around he would no doubt bring everyone at Beacon a gruesome death. At the same time, he need Ozpin and Beacon. They had the resources to help him track down the Marker. Left unchecked the Markers would kill everyone.

Isaac chuckled to himself, it was a catch twenty two. He if stayed, the students would die. If he left, the students would die. Casting off his nightmare took his clothes and stepped into the shower. Luckily the water didn't turn into blood during the shower. His luck seemed to continued because when he looked in the mirror when brushing his teeth he didn't see any necromorphs or demons.

Stepping out of the bathroom he put on his clothes for the day. He was about to head to the cafeteria when he stopped in front of his suit. He ran his fingers over the visor. "Don't kill anyone while I'm gone okay?" Isaac said to the suit.

The suit didn't respond.

Isaac walked out of his lab and into the cafeteria for the morning. He grabbed his usual meal and took a seat. He was already tired and exhausted, today was going to be rough.

Isaac was taking a sip from his coffee when a student walked up to him. She was wearing a different outfit than the standard Beacon uniform. Her uniform was black had had a white collar. The student had long black hair that covered half of her face. She also had deep amber colored eyes. "Excuse me? Isaac Clarke?" The student asked.

Isaac swallowed his pancakes. "That's me." He said.

"Oh good. You don't know me, but I'm from a visiting kingdom." The girl said taking a seat in front of Isaac.

If Isaac remembered correctly there were many students staying at Beacon for the upcoming Vytal festival. It still didn't explain why she was talking to Isaac. "Can I help you?" Isaac asked.

"I hope so. I'm not sure if you're aware but sometimes students sit in on Beacon classes." The student said. "I saw your class in the registrar and was wondering if I could join it." She said.

Isaac thought about it for a moment. He didn't remember any kind of program like this. It also didn't make any sense why Ozpin would put his class on a list like that. The whole point of the class was to hide in plain sight. Adding more students would make things more hectic. Still Isaac couldn't simply turn her away. "Alright, my classes aren't too long and as long as you promise not cause any trouble I don't see a problem." Isaac said.

"Oh good, my name is Cinder." Cinder said extending her hand out.

Isaac shook her hand. "Nice to meet you." He said. Isaac took another sip from his coffee and expected Cinder to go back to her friends but she remained sitting in front of Isaac. "Um… is there anything else I can help you with?" Isaac asked wanting Cinder to go away.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is this some sort of teacher table?" Cinder asked.

"No but… Well…" Isaac cleared his throat. "Carry on." He said.

Isaac tried to continue eating his meal but he felt Cinder's eyes on him the entire time. It was like how a predator watched prey. Isaac took another swing of his coffee when Cinder spoke up. "So are you married?" She asked.

In response Isaac spit up his coffee. "Oh my, are you okay?" Cinder asked offering Isaac a napkin.

Isaac took the napkin and wiped his face, "I'm fine. It was a very strange question to ask me." Isaac said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you lose you wife?" She asked.

Isaac wasn't sure how to respond. His fiance had died and the girl he had dated after was probably on the other side of the known universe. "No, I never married." Isaac said.

"Oh, okay." Cinder said.

The silence re entered the conversation. It loomed over the table. "You're not very talkative are you?" She asked.

"I'm just trying to eat my meal in peace." Isaac said shaking his head.

"No, it's more than that. It's your eyes." Cinder said.

Isaac narrowed his eyes, "Excuse me?" He asked.

"Oh sorry, it was nothing. I'll take my leave now." Cinder said grabbing her food and walking away.

Isaac watched her walk away. Whoever this Cinder was, she clearly wasn't normal. The way she looked at him, her questions, none of it was normal. She was interrogating him. It could have be simply curiosity, but Isaac had seen what simply curiosity had done to men. It would slowly consume them until there was nothing left.

Isaac didn't want to linger long on that thought. He had other things he needed to be worried about. He had spent some time looking at the journal last night but he was unable to find any clue leading to the marker. None of the pages were ripped out. No stains. Nothing.

Olive wasn't kidding when he said he couldn't find anything. Isaac had only looked for a hour or two and he was already frustrated. There had to be something though. Another journal? A hidden code? What was the professor hiding?

Isaac continued to think about the possibilities for the rest of the morning. After breakfast Isaac went back to his room and put the finishing touches on his latest pet project. When he was on tau volantis he would pick up any scraps he could find and make a weapon. Now with an unlimited budget and supplies, Isaac went all out.

The heavy elite assault rifle with a javelin gun. The assault rifle was powerful enough to stop regular necromorphs, but for the stronger enemies he could use the javelin. He had even put a stasis coating so when enemies were hit with the javelin they would be slowed. Sure he had made much crazier things but this was reliable. It was perfect for almost any situation.

Isaac felt the weapon in his hands. It was heavy and it packed one hell of punch. At first he hadn't planned doing anything with it. Only when the need would arise, his plasma cutter usually fit the bill. But after how he treated Ruby he decided that she deserved a little show. Ruby apparently loved weapons, so what better than to show her one of his best weapons in class?

Isaac spent the rest of time before class taking a nap. This time with no nightmares. When he awoke he class was already waiting for him outside of the door. Isaac opened the door and let them in. "Alright everyone take a seat, I have a surprise for you today."

"Is it an actual lesson?" Isaac heard a white haired girl mutter under her breath.

Once everyone had taken a seat Isaac Isaac began to write on the whiteboard. While he was writing he noticed Cinder sitting in the back of the class. Her eyes were the same as before, a predator watching prey.

Isaac finished what he was writing and turned to his class. "Alright, can anyone tell me what is the most important part of a weapon?" Isaac asked

"How powerful it is!" A blond haired student almost shouted.

"Close." Isaac said.

"Weapon needs to both durable and precise." The same white haired girl said.

"A good point but not the answer I was looking for." Isaac said.

Cinder raised her hand from the back, "The person behind the weapon." She said.

"Exactly. It doesn't matter what kind of weapon you have, what matters is who wields it." Isaac said.

"I don't get it." A student said.

"It's like this. Your weapon is like a person. It has its own strengths and flaws. Its up to the person behind it to not only know these weaknesses and strengths but how to apply them. You know this. Buts its also important to know both the limits of your weapon and yourself. " Isaac said pointing to the digram of his plasma cutter on the board.

"This is my custom made plasma cutter. It fires plasma bolts at my opponents. Sounds good right? What's the problem with it though?" Isaac asked.

Ruby put up her hand, "Well if I had to guess it would be two things. One, would be the ammo. Firing plasma out of such a small space would require a lot of plasma to be effective, especially if you want to do any damage. Second, would be that it lacks range. The plasma can only travel so far before losing its power." Ruby said.

"Good, that's on point. Every weapon has a weakness like this. Knowing that helps the person behind the weapon use it more effectively. Its also important that you younger hunters understand that weapons can only be as effective as you make them." Isaac said noting that half the class was falling asleep.

"I could talk about this all day but I think a demonstration would be better." Isaac said waking the other half of the class up. "Everyone head to the shooting rang, I'll meet you there in a second." Isaac said as his students stood up and walked out of the classroom.

Isaac turned and went to his room to grab his new weapon. His plan was simple, show off his weapon and then let Ruby play with it for a while. It seemed fair to Isaac. With his weapon in his hand he headed to the shooting range to find his students talking amongst themselves.

Isaac cleared his throat to catch the attention of his students. "Alright, thanks for the wait. Now can anyone guess what this is?" Isaac said gesturing to his weapon.

"A gun!" A blond student said crossing his arms in confidence.

"You're right but you're also wrong." Isaac said. "This is my very own creation. A heavy elite assault rifle with a javelin gun." He said causing Ruby's eyes to go wide.

"Why would you need a javelin on your weapon?" A student asked.

"It's not just a javelin, it also coats anyone who is hit with a coat of stasis." Isaac responded.

"I get it! You can use your javelin for short range combat and your rifle for longer range combat. With both weapons combined no one can even get close to you." Ruby said jumping up and down in excitement.

Isaac nodded, "That's true but remember, it is still up to the person wielding the weapon. Now who wants to try it out?" He asked.

Ruby immediately ran up to Isaac and jumped up and down while raising her hand. "Me! Me!" She shouted.

Isaac chuckled, "Alright be careful." He said handing Ruby the weapon.

Ruby grabbed the weapon and almost dropped it. "Wow, I didn't expect it to be so heavy." She said.

Isaac usually didn't worry about the weight of his weapons. His suit gave him enough strength to carry just about anything. Ruby was far too small to properly wield the weapon. It surprised Isaac that she could even use a giant scythe. "Alright just aim down the range and fire whenever you are ready." Isaac said pointing to the Grimm target.

Ruby nodded and dragged the weapon to the range. She looked down the sights and held her breath. Then with a pull of the trigger she was sent flying back towards the wall. "Ruby!" Isaac said running towards Ruby.

Ruby slowly stood up and smiled, "That… was… so… cool!" Ruby said. "It had a lot more power than I expected but it was still the most awesomest thing I did today!" She said.

Isaac let out a sigh of relief. He was happy she didn't hurt herself. Now satisfied that he had repaired Ruby for earlier he was about to head back to the class but then Cinder raised her hand. "Yes?" Isaac asked Cinder.

"Would you mind if I fired the weapon?" Cinder asked.

Isaac was a bit surprised. He didn't think anyone really wanted to take turns playing around with his weapon. Then again, they were still children. "Alright, just be careful." Isaac said.

Isaac went to take the weapon from Ruby but she wasn't letting go. "Just a few more minutes." Ruby said gripping the weapon tightly.

"Ruby." Isaac said shaking his head.

"Fine." Ruby grumbled letting go of the weapon. Isaac then handed the weapon to Cinder. To his surprise she didn't flinch when holding the weapon. Isaac didn't expect any of the students to have this kind of strength.

"Can I fire?" Cinder asked Isaac while looking down the range.

"Whenever you're ready." Isaac said.

Cinder nodded and then fired three shots back to back. Each shot hitting a target directly in the middle. "How was that?" Cinder asked.

Isaac looked at the smoldering targets. Cinder didn't even hesitate for a second when firing his weapon. From his past experience people like that were trained to fight or natural killers. Of course Isaac was a bit of both himself.

It seemed that this world did truly produce powerful warriors. Isaac was a bit afraid of the day that the residents of Remnant would fight Earth. Sure they had better technology but it was clear that the people of Remanent were much stronger physically.

"No fair! I want a turn!" A female blond student shouted.

"Yeah me too! I want to make loud noises!" A female student with orange hair shouted.

Isaac sighed, he didn't want things to get too crazy but this was a lot easier than trying to teach for a half hour. "Alright everyone form a line." Isaac said as the students pushed and shoved each other to get in line.

For the next half hour the students took turns firing the weapon. A few could wield the weapon with wobbling and even fewer could actually hit any of the targets. One students, who was named Jaune, was slammed against the wall from the recoil and was knocked out cold. What surprised Isaac the most however, was that Ruby didn't get in line to fire the weapon angina. She simply watched from the back, silently.

After sending Jaune to the nurse's office Isaac dismissed his students for the day. Most of them walked off in different directions while a few stayed behind to talk about the lesson for the day. Isaac decided to go back to his room and continue working on the journal when Ruby tapped him on the shoulder when he was making his way out of the range. "Yes?" Isaac asked.

"I have some notes." Ruby said pulling out a small notebook.

"Excuse me?" Isaac asked crossing his arms in confusion.

"The recoil on your weapon is a problem. Out of all the students only three were able to handle the javelin gun without serious feedback to their body. Even then all three students missed the targets." Ruby said looking in her notebook.

"The recoil really isn't a problem." Isaac said.

"Why not?" Ruby asked.

"You see I have a suit that… You know what it would be easier to show you." Isaac said. "Follow me."

Ruby nodded and followed Isaac out of the range and back towards the engineering lab. Isaac wasn't sure why he felt the need to show Ruby's his suit but he was anyways. Maybe he wanted to show off. Maybe he wanted to repay Ruby some more. Or maybe he felt some sort of kinship with Ruby over her love of weapons. Regardless Isaac walked into the lab. "Wait right here." Isaac said as Ruby grabbed a seat.

Isaac walked into his room and headed right to his suit. "You ready to put on a show?" He asked his suit.

No response. Of course.

Isaac was in his suit in a flash and stepped out his room and back into the lab. When Ruby saw the 'robot' again she let out a shriek. "It's alive!" She shouted.

"No, it's me." Isaac said.

"Me who?" Ruby responded.

"Me your teacher." Isaac said.

Ruby gasped, "Wow, really? Your inside that thing." She said running up to Isaac and examining the suit.

"Yup." Isaac said as Ruby continued to look over the suit.

"I thought that gun would be the coolest thing I saw today but this… this…" Ruby squealed. "This is just too cool!" She shouted.

Isaac couldn't help but chuckle, "With this suit wielding any kind of weapon isn't a problem. The suit absorbs any kind of kickback from the weapon while also helping my aim through the suit's HUD." Isaac said.

"You have to let me try it on!" Ruby said jumping up and down in excitement.

"Sorry, that's a no go." Isaac said.

"Oh." Ruby said her head dropping a bit. "Wait, so that's why you were so mad earlier. You didn't want me messing up your suit." She said.

Sure, Isaac would take that. "It is very sensitive equipment. I've had it for years now. I just didn't want you to get snagged on the suit and get hurt." Isaac said.

"I kinda understand why you snapped, I don't like people touching Crescent Rose." Ruby said coddling and imaginary weapon.

Isaac chuckled to himself. Sure this girl was a bit… eccentric but at least her heart was in the right place. She just really loved weapons. Isaac was about to say something else when the door to the lab swung open.

"There you are!" A shrill voice shouted.

Walking through the door were three girls. One with white hair, one with black, and another with yellow. If Isaac remembered correctly he saw them inside Ruby's dorm. A likely assumption was that these girls were Ruby's teammates.

"We've been looking all over for you!" The girl with the white hair said grabbing Ruby by the check and pulling on it.

Ruby's face went red as she tried to escape the grip. "Ow, Weiss! Stop! Please!" Ruby begged.

The girl with white haired turned to Isaac and suddenly let go of Ruby. She gasped, "What is that thing?" She said taking a defensive stance. The rest of the girls followed suit.

"Don't you dare think about hurting her!" The blond girl said.

Isaac put his hands, "Hold on. It's me Isaac."

"Really?" The girl with blake asked.

"Yeah, it's Isaac in there." Ruby said backing Isaac up.

"Oh, please forgive me. I didn't recognize you like… that. My name is Weiss Schnee." Weiss said her entire demeanor changing.

"I must say, I especially loved your lesson today. It was very thought provoking." Weiss said.

"Kiss ass." The blond girl said under her breath causing Weiss to give her a nasty glare.

"Oh you haven't meet my team yet. This is my sister Yang!" Rub said pointing to the blond girl.

"Nice to met yah!" Yang said offering her hand to Isaac. "I got to say your weapon packed one hell of a punch. Think you can make something like but a bit more portable. And with more explosive power?" Yang asked.

It seemed weapons might run in the family. But Isaac couldn't see how the two were related. If Isaac had to guess then one of the two sister was either adopted or they were foster siblings. "Well, come back in a month and I might have something like that." Isaac said jokingly.

"Really?" Ruby said her eyes widening.

"No, I was just joking." Isaac responded.

"Oh." Ruby said.

"I'm Blake." Blake said offering a hand to Isaac. From her tone she didn't seem like the type to go around making friends. That didn't really bother Isaac though.

"If I remembered correctly your all on the same team. Right?" Isaac asked.

"Yup! Were team RWBY lead by me, Ruby the great. Ruby the fearless. Ruby the wonderful." Ruby said as her and Yang struck several poses.

At least there were colorful. Isaac mentally slapped himself for coming up with such a terrible pun. "Well is there anything I can help you girls out with?" Isaac asked.

"Oh no, we don't want to bother you. We were just looking for our 'leader'." Weiss said using air quotes.

"Hey!" Ruby shouted.

"In that case I'm a bit busy at the moment. It's very important research and I would like to be alone. Would you mind clearing the room?" Isaac asked.

"Of course." Weiss said grabbing Ruby by the collar and heading out of the lab.

"Wait! I had so many more ideas for your suit." Ruby said while being dragged on the floor. Isaac watched as the rest of team RWBY followed.

Isaac didn't really want to kick the kids out. Despite her boisterous personality Isaac didn't mind having Ruby around. Her enthusiasm made Isaac smile and after what he had been through, that was no easy task. But business came first. He had to find out the riddle of the journal. Who knew how long it would take? Days? Months? Years? Olive said he had being working on it for a few years before giving up.

Isaac was thinking about the mystery of the journal when his scroll went off. Thanks to his suit he could answer from his HUD. Isaac pressed the side of his helmet and answered the call. "Yes?" Isaac asked.

"ISAAC! I DID IT!" The other end of the line shouted almost deafening Isaac.

"Calm down! Who is this?" Isaac responded.

"Oh sorry, I got kinda excited." The other end of the line responded. "It's me Olive. I think I know how to solve the riddle of the journal."

Isaac was surprised. He had only been gone a day. "What did you find out?" Isaac asked.

"Well I was looking over my maps and then suddenly it all made sense. I can't believe I didn't see it before. I must be the biggest idiot who ever lived." Olive said on the other end of the line.

"What did you find out?" Isaac asked almost shouting.

"I was looking at the geographic locations of the map and that's when it hit me. If I am correct. the series of numbers letters and symbols relate to coordinates on the map!" Olive said on the other end of the line.

"That's amazing!" Isaac said. Maybe it wouldn't take him so long after all.

"There's just one problem." Olive said on the other end.

Of course there was. There was always a problem. I don't have the keycard for this room. The generator isn't working. It's always something. "What's the problem?" Isaac asked for what had seemed like the millionth time in his life.

"We can't get anywhere without the master list." Olive said on the other end of the line.

"Master list?" Isaac asked.

"Yes, based on the code I believe it is derived from an ancient league. The problem is that the original text of the alphabet was stolen along with my father's journal. Luckily, I think I know the culprit. A thief calling himself Shark Tooth was seen with the original manuscript." Olive said.

"How do you know this?" Isaac asked.

"You would be surprised what people just leave lying around on the internet. He frequents a bar in town. I'll send you the address and together we can confront the villain." Olive said.

"Alright I'll meet…" Isaac was saying when he heard something coming from the other side of lab door. His suit was able to pick up faint sounds so it sounded like to Isaac like more than one person was listening in. "I'll call you back." Isaac said hanging up and grabbing his plasma cutter.

Isaac slowly made his way to the door. He wasn't sure who was listening in but whoever they were they couldn't get away. They had heard too much. Isaac reached for the door and with one quick pull opened the door.

"Hands up!" Isaac shouted pointing at the open door.

To his surprise it was none other than team RWBY standing in his way. "Surprise!" Ruby said throwing her hands up.

Isaac sighed and slapped his suit's forehead. "Again? Didn't you learn the first time?" Isaac asked.

"It wasn't my idea! Yang was the one who wanted to listen in." Ruby said.

"Thanks for throwing me under the buss sis." Yang said crossing her arms.

"How much did you hear?" Isaac asked.

"Not much thanks to ice queen. She wouldn't stopping talking about this was 'immoral'". Yang said using air quotes.

"I was against the idea from the very beginning but there was no convincing them." Weiss said.

This curiosity thing was getting out of hand. He would have to talk with Ozpin when he got back. "It's fine. Now if you'll excuse me I need to head out." Isaac said.

"Where are you going?" Ruby asked.

"Its not really the concern of students." Isaac said.

"Oh come on, you might need some help where ever your going." Ruby said flexing her tiny arm.

"I'm just going to town for a bit. In fact, do any of you know this address?" Isaac said pulling out his scroll and showing them the address Olive had sent.

The four of them looked at the address and stood in silent contemplation until Yang spoke. "Oh! I know that place, it's a bar!"

"Wait a minute, why is a teacher going to a bar?" Weiss asked.

"I told you, it's important research." Isaac said only realizing how suspicious it sounded once it had left his mouth.

"Yeah, research into how much you can drink in one night." Yang said under her breath.

Isaac was getting feed up. Sure he could leave this to Ozpin or give out some sort of punishment but he had a feeling it wouldn't stick. They needed to have their curiosity sated. Only then would they stop bothering him.

"That's it. We're going to solve this problem right now. I get it, you're curious. So if I take you with me will you promise to stay out of business for the rest of the year?" Isaac shouted.

"As long as you're paying." Yang said.

"I am not going to drink. I'm going to apprehend a dangerous criminal. Are you still on board?" Isaac asked.

"No way is my sister going, but me and Blake are going to take you up on your offer." Yang said.

"Why are you always dragging me into these things?" Blake said with a sigh.

"What about me?" Weiss asked.

"Someone's gotta keep Ruby busy." Yang responded.

Ruby nodded, "I do get bored easily."

"Great, now I'm a baby sitter." Weiss said.

Isaac reached his hand out, "I take you out this once and then you leave me alone. Deal?" He asked.

Yang shook his hand. "Deal." She said.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: What makes a man?**

"Strawberry Sunrise, no ice. And don't forget my umbrella this time!" Yang shouted to the bartender over the loud music. "You want anything?" Yang asked Isaac.

"What?" Isaac responded not hearing her over the loud music.

"I asked if you wanted anything!" Yang shouted even louder.

"No!" Isaac responded shouting and causing the music to stop. Ever head at the club turned to Isaac. Isaac cleared his throat as the music continued and the rest of the patrons went on with their various actives.

Isaac hated clubs. Too much music. Too many sweaty people grinding up against each other. To him, a nightclub was a disaster waiting to happen. After the deal Isaac had made with Yang, Isaac had reluctantly left Ruby and Weiss to watch over his lab.

He couldn't leave it alone especially with a Marker piece sitting in his desk. While Ruby was childish and curious Weiss seemed a bit more responsible. Of course Isaac had made an absolute rule of not going in his room but who knew what they would do.

"I'll have a milk." Blake said to the bartender.

Yang snickered at the comment causing Blake to shoot Yang a deathly glare. Isaac shook his head. This what he was worried about. First they had to stop so the two girls could get changed into new outfits they had even named. "Hunter" for Yang and "Intruder" for Blake. Isaac could understand naming a weapon or piece of armor but an outfit? It seemed Isaac didn't really get teenage girls.

While they were getting changed Isaac called Oliver up again. Apparently they were looking for a criminal calling himself "Shark Tooth". Olive was dead set on going but Isaac convinced him against it. Four people all looking for the same person would attract too much attention. Which was why he didn't bring his suit. Too much attention.

Isaac continued to mull at the bar. When they arrived at the nightclub they were instantly greeted to twenty armed men all pointing their guns at them. Isaac had reached for his Plasma cutter and was ready to attack but Yang calmed them down. She had asked for the apparent owner of the club. So while they waited for him Yang suggested they wait at the bar and get drinks. Isaac also had to over his weapon. Much to his dismay.

"So, what's your story?" Yang asked taking a sip from her drink.

"Excuse me?" Isaac responded to the question.

"Were at a bar. You're supposed to tell your whole life story to us. Tell us about the good old days and impart drunk life lessons. Isn't that what old people do at bar?" Yang said with a chuckle.

"How old do you think I am?" Isaac asked.

Yang shrugged, "Old enough to be cranky at like two in the afternoon." She said.

Isaac really didn't understand this girl. Ruby was excitable. Weiss seemed responsible. Blake was the quiet one. So Yang was the reckless one. Isaac didn't understand why people were like that. He had seen plenty of "heroes" jump in head first only to be spit back up with only their bones remaining.

"I'll turn fifty this year." Isaac said giving a genuine response.

Yang spit up her drink, "No way! Really?" Yang examined Isaac up and down. "You don't look like a fifty-year-old." She said.

"Yang, leave him alone." Blake said calming her partner down.

"Alright, alright." Yang said putting her hands up.

"Sorry about that." Blake said giving Isaac a soft apology.

"It's alright. I can't blame her for being curious." Isaac said.

Blake took a drink from her cup, "I have to be honest, I'm a bit curious myself. Where did you come from?" She asked.

"Far east." Isaac responded.

"So why come to Beacon?" Blake asked.

Isaac thought for a moment. "Research." He said.

"And this is apart of your research?" Blake asked.

Technically it was. Sure he was hunting down some criminal who held a key to finding the most dangerous threat to humanity but if Isaac was being honest he was doing more than that. He was hoping to grab a quick drink too. Isaac had quit drinking a few years after the Titan station incident. But every once in awhile didn't hurt. Especially with his dream last night.

"I told you before, I'm hunting a dangerous criminal. He has something I need." Isaac said.

"At least you're doing something to help." Blake said.

Isaac narrowed his eyes, "That's an odd response." He said.

Blake sighed, "It's just, I've seen a lot of people who were just out for themselves. They care more about their own fame and glory. Its nice to meet someone who is actually trying to improve the world."

Isaac relaxed a bit, Blake may seem intense but it turns out she was a softy on the inside. Isaac would say the same about himself but if he ever showed his soft side it would end up getting stabbed. "Well, just trying to leave the world a better place then I arrived in." Isaac said.

"Most Hunters who graduate take the jobs that have the biggest bounty on them. Not caring about the people or their struggles. But if this guy is dangerous I'm glad your doing something about it." Blake said. "If only we could unite against the White Fang too." She seemed to say under her breath.

Isaac was confused, why would she mention the white fang? "White fang? I fought some of them earlier, they don't seem so tough."

Blake entire demeanor seemed the change, "You fought them? When? Where? How many where there?" Blake asked Isaac shooting her questions off at the speed of a machine gun.

Isaac was overloaded by the questions. Why was she curious about them? Isaac was about to ask when Yang put a drink in Isaac's hand. Drink." Yang said.

"Excuse me?" Isaac said.

"I can't finish it and I don't want it to go to waste. So please drink." Yang said.

Isaac looked inside the cup. It was a bright yellow liquid with a tiny umbrella on the edge. Isaac shook his head and giving in to his desires finished off the rest of the cup.

"Thank you." Yang said.

Isaac coughed a bit, it had been awhile since he had any kind of alcohol. "Your welcome." He said.

"We talked about this Blake." Yang said turning to Blake.

Blake lowered her head, "I know." She said.

It was clear that Isaac wasn't meant to hear what they were saying so he pretended that he didn't hear anything. Yang then turned to Isaac "Alright teach, I got one last question for you." She said.

"Just one?" Isaac asked.

"Just one and it's the last one." Yang said.

Isaac was a bit hesitant at first but decided that decided answering it would be better than dodging the question. "Shoot." He said.

"What does my sister see in you?" Yang asked.

Isaac was taken back by the question. He was expecting some petty question about his life, or his age. "What do you mean?" Isaac asked trying to clarify the question.

"Let's be honest, when I take a look at you all I see is a grumpy old man. So why is Ruby talking about you nonstop?" Yang asked.

"She's talking about me?" Isaac responded confused.

"Yeah, keeps talking about that suit of yours. She claimed that she when touched it she touched a part of your 'soul' or whatever." Yang said using air quotes. "Then again Ruby has always had a sense for these kinds of things."

Isaac was baffled beyond a doubt. His soul? What could she possibly mean by that. When he got to Beacon he would have to ask about it. Although Isaac didn't want to think it, it was possible that whatever Ruby felt when touched Isaac's suit was some sort of Marker influence.

"Well to be honest-" Isaac was saying when a tall man in black vest walked up to the bar.

"Blondie, how many times are you going wreck my bar before you get board?" The man asked grabbing a bottle of the shelf.

"I don't know, maybe another four or five times." Yang said shrugging her shoulders.

The man sighed and slammed his head against the bar counter. "Wonderful." He said.

"Isaac, this is my friend Junior." Yang said.

"He seems happy to see you." Isaac said.

"Alright, let's make this easy. What do you want this time?" Junior asked.

Yang gestured for Isaac to speak now. "I need information about a man calling himself 'Shark tooth'." Isaac said.

Junior lifted his head, "You stupid or something? I don't know who you are but here's a free piece of advice. If you want to keep living I suggest you stay away from that guy." Junior said pouring himself a drink from the bottle.

Isaac slammed his hand down on the bar counter, "You worry about yourself, now tell me where he is." Isaac shouted.

Suddenly the men in suits all pointed their guns at Isaac. "Are you threatening me in my own bar?" Junior asked narrowing his eyes at Isaac.

"Let's calm down her." Yang said as Blake reached for her bottle ready to attack. "Listen Junior. This guy, is a Hunter." She said.

Junior looked Isaac up and down, "Never heard nor seen you around here before."

"That's because he's been fighting Grimm on the frontier territory for the last thirty years. Now he isn't exactly the most sociable or friendly guy. He's also a lot more violent than me, so let's not make a repeat of last time, alright?" Yang asked batting her eyes.

Junior shivered and took a long drink from his bottle. "Alright, whatever. The guy you're looking for is in the back. The VIP room. Don't say I didn't warn you." He said.

Yang patted Junior on the head, "Thank you." She said.

"Alright let's go." Yang said standing up.

Isaac put his hand in front of her, "No, you stay here." He said.

"But... why?" Yang asked.

"If he sees to many people coming at him he might run. I need you stay back in case things get bad." Isaac said.

Yang sighed and sat back down, "One more Sunrise and a Milk for my friend her." Yang said to the bartender.

Isaac stood up and started to make his way towards the back of the club. He pushed his past the people dancing until he was in front of a large door with the words 'VIP' in bright neon lights hanging above him. Isaac had two options, kick down the door and start demanding answers or try to sneak in.

Isaac thought for a moment but then decided that the Marker wasn't going to wait for him. Isaac stepped back and with one powerful kick tore the door off its hinges. Isaac walked into the room to find a massive man sitting down on a long red couch. The room was barely lit and a heavy layer of smoke covered the room. The man sitting on the couch stood up and scowled. He had dark black hair and a white jacket on with a black shirt underneath. The man also had several gold chains hanging off his neck. His face looked like stone and Isaac could see the flash of gold plated teeth under his lips. Each tooth looked razor sharp. Isaac now knew why he was called Shark Tooth.

"The hell are you doing here mate? You lost?" Shark Tooth shouted ready to punch Isaac in the face.

"You Shark Tooth?" Isaac asked.

"Who the hell wants to know?" He asked.

"Me, you stole something very important. I need it." Isaac said.

"I stole a lot of stuff mate but if you want it back you're going to have to get it from my cold dead hands. Now sit back down before you get hurt old man." Shark Tooth said.

Isaac stepped forward and delivered a powerful right swing to couch Shark Tooth's face. But suddenly Isaac recoiled in pain. It was like he had punched a brick wall. Shark Tooth then kicked Isaac in the stomach sending him flying out of the room and back on the dance floor of the club.

Isaac slid on the floor knocking over several dancers until he stopped. Shark Tooth stepped out of the VIP room and laughed, "I warned you old man!" He shouted.

Isaac stood up and spit up some blood. The entire cub went into a panic with most of the dancers running out out of fear. Yang and Blake jumped out of their seats and ran over to Isaac weapons at the ready. "This the guy?" Yang asked Isaac.

"Yeah, that's him." Isaac said cracking his knuckles. "You stay behind I got this." He said.

"Are you sure?" Yang asked.

Isaac gestured for Shark Tooth to attack him, "I'm sure." He said.

Blake and Yang nodded and jumped out of the way just as Shark Tooth attacked. He swung at Isaac who easily dodged the attack. Isaac retaliated by trying to deliver an uppercut but once again Isaac recoiled in pain.

Shark Tooth kneed Isaac in the stomach and then punched him in the face. Shark Tooth then grabbed Isaac by his hair and lifted him up. "I'm only going to give you one more warning. Stay down!" Shark Tooth said as he threw Isaac on the ground and stomped on him causing Isaac to let out a cry of pain. Shark Tooth laughed at Isaac as he walked back towards the VIP room.

"I warned you." Junior said under his breath.

Isaac tried to pick himself up but the pain caused him to fall over again. Isaac was bleeding from his head and had several small pieces of glass in his face. Isaac closed his eyes, he had to ignore the pain. He had to push forward no matter what. Isaac looked down on the ground, and saw several larger shards of glass on the floor. Then a plan came to Isaac's mind.

Isaac stood up slowly, his legs shaking under the pain. "Were not done here!" Isaac shouted causing Shark Tooth to stop.

Shark Tooth sighed, "Alright old man, you had a chance. Now I got make a mess." He said pulling out a pair of brass knuckles.

Isaac took a stance and waited for Shark Tooth to attack. Shark Tooth ran forwards falling right into Isaac plan. Shark Tooth swung at Isaac but this time Isaac dodged the blow and picked up a piece of glass from the ground and stabbed Shark Tooth in the side.

Shark Tooth backed up in pain but Isaac put the rest of his plan into motion. Isaac grabbed Shark Tooth's arm and using all his strength Isaac threw Shark Tooth over his shoulder and on the ground. He stomped on Shark Tooth's chest several times and Isaac could hear the cracking of bones. Isaac then grabbed another piece of glass and held it to Shark Tooth's neck. "Alright, this is how things are going to go. I'm going to ask a question and then your going to answer. Got it?" Isaac asked pressing the glass closer to Shark Tooth's neck.

Shark Tooth nodded, "Alright, just clam down man." He said.

Blake and Yang walked up to Isaac. "Not bad." Yang said.

"A bit violent but it worked." Blake said.

Isaac chuckled, "Happy to impress. Now Shark Tooth, lets go somewhere private." Isaac said a smile on his face.

* * *

"You swear?" Isaac asked.

"I swear!" Shark Tooth blubbered in between breaths.

"Good." Isaac said walking away and out of the room.

After capturing Shark Tooth, Isaac interrogated him in a small room in the back of the club. Isaac had to use some less than savory methods but he had gotten his answers. The master list was some kind of stone tab. Shark Tooth had been hired to steal it along with other artifacts by the White Fang. At first he swore he didn't know where it was but after a few minutes Isaac learned it was sitting in a warehouse at the edge of town.

"So, where we going?" Yang asked as Isaac stepped out of the room.

"Your going home." Isaac said grabbing his Plasma cutter and walking out of the club.

"Don't come back!" Junior shouted as Isaac walked out.

Yang was shocked, "What do you mean? We can't go home yet; I didn't even get to punch anyone yet!" She said following Isaac out of the club.

"The deal was you help me track down someone. We found them, end of the deal." Isaac said. "Besides, Ozpin would kill of he found out I took students on a dangerous mission without his permission." He said.

"Who cares what Ozpin thinks. We fight monsters for a living. Come on!" Yang shouted.

Isaac shook his head, "We had a deal. Now you go back home and continue to be good students without sticking your noses in my business." He said.

"Were not good students!" Yang said.

"Besides, what if you need help?" Blake asked.

"I'm a fully fledged Hunter, I don't need help from kids." Isaac said walking away.

Yang walked in front of Isaac and crossed her arms, "Oh yeah, how about we test that?" She asked.

Isaac frowned, "If you don't want to wake up with a headache in the morning I suggest you step aside." He said.

"And who's going to make me? Some old man?" Yang asked getting in Isaac's face.

Isaac didn't have time for this. Every second he wasted here the Marker was closer to destroying this planet. If he attacked Yang Isaac had no doubt Ozpin would stop helping him. But he was used to working alone anyways. Just as he was about to attack Blake steeped between the two.

"Wait! Let's calm down." She said. "Yang, he's a teacher. Are you really going to fight a teacher? What would Ruby say?" Blake asked.

Yang looked down and then stepped away. "Sorry." She said to Isaac.

Blake then turned to Isaac, "Listen, I know you want to do this by yourself. You want to keep us safe but pushing us away will only make us more concerned. Just give us a chance to prove that we can take of ourselves." She said.

Isaac thought for a moment. The more he would push the more his students would no doubt push back. Maybe this once, things wouldn't turn out as they had before. This time was different. He had to believe that. "Alright, you can come with me." Isaac said giving in.

Yang smiled, "Awesome! Alright, where are we going?" She asked.

"A warehouse at the edge of town. Its at the top of a hill overlooking the ocean." Isaac said.

"That might some time to get to." Blake said.

"Not if I use Bumblebee." Yang said.

Isaac looked at Yang confused, "Bumblebee?"

Yang smiled and disappeared around the corner, she then appeared a few minutes latter with a massive motorcycle.

"You like?" Yang asked stepping off her bike.

Isaac couldn't but help admire the bike. By his standers of technology, the bike was old but the design was something to behold for sure. "Not bad." Isaac said.

Yang smiled, "Glad to see someone appreciate Bumblebee." She said.

"Bumblebee?" Isaac asked questioning the naming of the bike.

"You know… causes its black and yellow." Yang said.

Isaac shrugged his shoulders, "Alright then, its not a bad bike but you don't honestly think we can all fit on it at once." Isaac said.

Yang put on her helmet and jumped on her bike, "Just get really close." She said.

"You can't be serious." Isaac said.

"We don't have time, you said so yourself ." Yang said in almost mocking tone.

Isaac shook his head, "Fine, lets get this over with." He said taking a seat on the bike.

Blake took a seat behind him as Yang started up the engine. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, this is your caption speaking. Were currently on our way to beat up a bunch of bad guys. Please keep your arms and legs on the bike and no touching of the hair." Yang said as if she was an airline pilot.

Isaac was starting to regret brining them along with him. Before he could say anything the bike shot off into the night. Isaac could barely tell what was going on in front of him. The lights passed by his face so fast it almost looked like he was in hyper drive in one of those old Sci-Fi movies.

Before long they were on the outskirts of town. The cold air rushing past his face reminded Isaac of his time on that god forsaken ice planet. He had lost so many friends. His thoughts began to wonder to Carver. Carver stuck with him even after everything fell apart. Carver knew what was at stake. Deep down, Isaac think he missed him the most.

Suddenly the bike came to stop in front of an old warehouse. "We've arrived at our destination. Please take all carry on with you and thank you for riding with Xiao long services. Xiao long services, 'they can't all be winners.'" Yang said stepping of the bike.

Isaac jumped off and looked to Blake who slowly stepped off clearly dizzy and ready to throw up. Isaac grabbed his Plasma cutter and began walking up to the door. He then turned to Blake and Yang. "Alright, according to the intel there should be some security bots guarding the warehouse. It shouldn't be too much of a problem but don't forget, this is a live fire mission. Don't take any unnecessary risks and stay close to each other." Isaac said.

Yang put on her weapon and cocked them, "You got it boss." She said.

Blake followed suit with her weapon at the ready, "We'll follow your lead." She said.

Isaac nodded and stood in front of the door. Then with one might kick sent the door flying offs it hinges. Isaac quickly ran inside and hide behind a box, he was then followed by Blake and Yang. Isaac looked over the box to see ten security bots looking toward the entrance of the warehouse, theirs guns at the ready.

Isaac turned to Blake and Yang and began to silently count down. On one Isaac stood up and shoot the heads off two bots. Yang jumped out of cover and let out a mighty roar. She then grabbed the closets bot and grabbed it by the arm. She then swung the bot at one of its comrades crushing the bot with the one in her hand. At that moment the remaining bots began to fire at the Isaac, Yang, and Blake. Blake responded by using her blade to rope a nearby bot. With the bot close enough she then quickly cut it in half. She then jumped out of cover as well and rushed forwarded. Blake then threw he gun forward at on of the bots. She then followed up but swinging her blade around cutting the bot up to several small bits.

Now the remaining four bots were firing at all three of their opponents. Isaac looked up to see a massive crate hanging above the bot's heads. Isaac jumped out of cover and shot the supporting beams for the crate causing it to fall on the remaining bots.

With the chaos over Yang laughed, "Before you smashed them you should've asked, 'What's up bot?'"

Isaac and Blake both sighed, "Never say that again." Isaac said.

Yang simply shrugged her shoulders. "Alright, you keep an eye out by the entrance."

"Aye aye, sir." Yang said giving a mocking salute.

Isaac looked to Blake who nodded in her partner's place. Isaac then headed deep into the warehouse. It took a while but eventually he found what he was looking for, the master list. It was just as Oliver had described to him. It was a old stone tablet with several odd symbols Isaac didn't recognize.

Isaac smiled as he put the tablet under his arm. For once everything went according to plan.

 _Outside the warehouse_

A shot shadowy figure looked at a screen in their hands. The picture on the screen showed Isaac finding the stone tablet.

"It seems everything is in place. Now Isaac lets see how you respond to this." The shadow figure said switching the image on the screen to a massive pile of explosives.

The shadow figure then turned around to a tided up shark tooth. The figure knelt down to Shark Tooth, "Thank you for your service." The figure said before pulling out a gun and shooting Shark Tooth in the face.

The figure then returned to screen and pressed a button on the screen the bombs in the image began to beep. "What is more important to you?" The shadow figure seemed to be asking the air as it slowly walked away from the warehouse.

 _Inside the warehouse_

Just as Isaac was about to head back towards the entrance and call the mission a success he heard a sudden beeping.

Isaac began heading towards the sound of the beeping until he came across a large metal door. Grabbing the handle of the door Isaac pulled the door back to reveal a large cache of explosives. They were beeping and ready to explode.

Isaac turned back and began running towards the entrance while screaming, "RUN!" As loud as he could.

After getting close to the entrance he saw Blake and Yang standing around. "What's up?" Yang asked.

"Run! There's explosives in the basement!" Isaac shouted.

Before Blake or Yang could respond. Steel shutters came down on the doors and windows, they were trapped inside!

Yang let out a yell and began to punch the door. "OPEN!" She shouted.

Blake tried to cut the steel shutters to the window but to no avail. Isaac pulled out his plasma cutter and fired as well but to no effect.

"What the hell is going on?" Isaac shouted.

"Allow me to explain." A deep voice said over the intercom. "You have something of mine Isaac. Something that took a long time to get. It also cost me a human life."

"I don't care about that! Let me out!" Yang said as her hair began her glow and her eyes turned red. She then punched the wall with all her might. To her surprise she was suddenly bombarded with hundreds volts of electricity.

Yang pulled her fist back in pain. Blake ran to her partner and grabbed her arm, "Are okay?" Blake asked examining Yang's arm.

"I'm okay." Yang responded.

"What do you want?" Isaac shouted.

"Simple. If you want that prize, then you have to pay the same price I did. Two of you get to leave with the prize but one of you must stay behind." The voice said.

"No way! I'll kick your ass!" Yang shouted as she kicked the wall.

"Calm down Yang!" Blake said trying to pull her partner back and clam her down.

Isaac bit his lip. There was no way they were getting past these walls. They had walked into a trap and the only way out was to play by the rules. It was obvious what should happen next.

Isaac handed Blake the master list. "Take this and go." He said.

Blake held the stone tablet in her hands. She looked at for a moment and then to Isaac, "You can't be serious." She said.

"Yeah! There's no way I'm leaving someone behind." Yang shouted.

"We don't have a choice! Take this, go to Ozpin and tell him what happened." Isaac shouted.

"We always have a choice, your choosing to give up!" Yang shouted tears starting to stream down her face.

Isaac smacked Yang on the head, "Listen to me for once! You take this and go! That is an order!" Isaac shouted.

Yang looked at Blake, "Blake…" She said looking for some sort of answer from her partner.

Blake couldn't look at Yang. "I understand." Blake said to Isaac.

Isaac nodded, "Hey! Whoever you are, let these two out. I'll stay behind!" He shouted.

Suddenly the door opened, "Just those two, try to cheat me and you all die." The voice said.

Isaac put a hand on Yang's and Blake's shoulder. "Listen, sometimes…. No, In life…. I'm sorry." Isaac said hanging his head in shame.

Yang hugger her professor, "I'm sorry." She said sobbing.

Blake hugged her professor but couldn't muster and words. Blake took Yang's hand and lead her out of the warehouse. Isaac waved at the two as the door behind them closed.

"Interesting choice Isaac." The voice said.

"How do you know my name?" Isaac asked he voice.

"Oh Isaac, you already know who I am." The voice said.

"What! Who are you!" Isaac shouted.

There was no response. Isaac sighed and sat down. It was funny he had plan to escape but he wasn't sure it was going to work. Sending the girls away was the only way to make sure they got out alive. It was true, Isaac really was a death magnet.

Isaac shook that thought off and started his plan to escape. First, he would need his semblance.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Building Blocks for life**

Isaac closed his eyes and tried to block out all outside noise. He had only done this once before; he need to concentrate. When he first used his semblance he wasn't quite sure how he did it. Isaac thought back to last week when Glynda had helped him.

* * *

 _One week earlier_

"Alright Glynda, what am I doing here?" Isaac asked. Glynda had asked him to come to the training field after class.

Glynda cleared her throat before speaking, "You have been here for some time now. Ozpin believes that if you are going to survive you should use all the tools available." She said.

Isaac put his hands up, "I'm good, my suit and my plasma cutter are more than enough." He said.

Glynda shook her head, "So you think. I'm not sure what you've been through but the Grimm are dangerous. Besides, this will only take a moment." She said.

Isaac sighed, "Fine, what is it?" He asked.

Glynda pulled out her riding crop as purple aura surrounded her. Then Isaac suddenly felt himself being picked up by an invisible force. It was like the first time to two had meet.

So Isaac became suspend in thin air still confused, "Alright, how is this helping me?" He asked crossing his arms in midair.

"You know what arura and semblance are correct?" Glynda asked.

Isaac thought back to those words. He had heard them a lot but he wasn't sure how they worked. He had done some research about it while looking for the Marker. The way he interpreted it was that all humans on this planet had an aura. It was almost like a second skin of protection. Then there was semblance, a special ability that allowed all sorts of super human powers.

"More or less." Isaac responded.

"Good, now I'm going to activate your aura and semblance." Glynda said dropping Isaac to the floor.

Isaac became skeptical, "Last time I checked I'm not from here. I don't think that will work." He said.

"Ozpin begs to differ, one's aura and semblance is related to the struggles in life. The stronger the struggle the stronger the spirit. And spirit is tied directly to aura." Glynda said.

"Alright, let's get this over with." Isaac said not expecting much.

Glynda walked up to Isaac and placed a hang on his face. Glynda closed her eyes as her aura began to glow brighter than ever before. Then Isaac became surrounded in a light blue light. It was like the color of the ocean. He felt a wave of calm come over him. It was cold but he did not feel numb.

The two stood in silence for a full minute before Glynda took her hand away. "Hmmm…" Glynda said under her breath.

"Something wrong?" Isaac asked confused.

"It's odd, I know I unlocked your semblance but I felt no aura in you." She said.

"Is there any way to check?" Isaac asked.

Glynda nodded and then punched Isaac in the gut with all her force. Isaac felt himself be pushed back a bit as he griped his stomach in pain.

"No, I don't think it worked." Glynda said.

"You just wanted to punch me didn't you?" Isaac said his breath leaving him.

Glynda smirked but didn't answer. "Now, let us see what your semblance may be." She said pulling out her scroll and pressing a few buttons.

In an instant the training room was filled with practicing dummies. "Now, let's run the tests." Glynda said.

For the next hour Glynda had Isaac run around the training room. Try to attack he training dummies without using his hands. Lift large crates with his mind. Glynda even fired a few live bullets at him to see if anything would happen. At the end of the test nothing had happen. Isaac hadn't moved anything with his mind. Or alerted his speed in any way. Or even defend himself from attacks.

Isaac sat down on the floor, exhausted and drenched in sweat. "Is that all of them?" He asked tired and ready for a relaxing shower.

Glynda began looking through her scroll, "While it is true that each semblance is unique to each induvial most people learn their semblance's rather quickly. If they don't learn it, the semblance will come naturally without the user's permission." She said scrolling through past examples.

"Well, maybe it didn't work. I'm not from here so that would explain a lot. Also you said yourself I didn't have a lot of aura." Isaac said.

Glynda shook her head, "This doesn't make any sense. Maybe Ozpin was wrong." She said under her breath.

Isaac felt bad. He wasn't trying to prove anyone wrong; he just didn't know what this semblance thing truly was. He wasn't even sure if the people of Remnant were even human. Isaac closed his eyes and thought back to the moment Glynda unlocked his aura. He let himself be washed over by the cold breeze. No… it was like he was drifting through an ocean. Isaac felt himself almost loses all sense of weight.

"ISAAC!" Glynda shouted causing Isaac to open his eyes. To his surprise he almost everything in the room was floating around him. Both Glynda and Isaac were floating in the room.

Isaac tried to get some sort of balance. "What is going on?" He asked.

Glynda struggled to not throw up, "I think you are, causing this entire room to become weightless."

Isaac looked around the room as his body floated to a nearby wall. He used his left arm to push off the wall and towards Glynda. "This isn't so bad. I'm actually kind used to this kind of stuff." He said.

"Good… for… you…" Glynda said gripping his stomach and covering her mouth.

Isaac was trying his best to hold backs his laughs and then suddenly the gravity in the room returned as the two slowly dropped to the floor.

"So, I can control gravity?" Isaac asked once they had landed.

"It… seems that way yes. I would guess you can control the gravity in a fixed area." She said taking a moment to recover from her weightless experience.

Isaac picked up Glynda's scroll and began to suspended it in midair. "Well, this should be interesting." He said.

* * *

 _Present time_

Isaac thought back to that feeling. That sense of cold. The sense of being enveloped in an ocean. All that came rushing past Isaac as he opened his eyes to see the entire warehouse was under the effects of his gravity manipulation.

Isaac wasted no time and pushed himself towards the bombs. He found them closely clumped together but one good push would send them flying apart. That was going to be the hard part of his plan.

Isaac used the walls and floors to pushes the bomb parts into the central area of the warehouse. Now all he had to do was make the bomb weightless enough that it floated harmlessly into the sky. Easier said than done.

What Isaac was worried about was if a part of the bomb fell off. It could come back and blow up in his face, literally. And if Yang and Blake had been around there was not telling what would happen to them. He didn't have enough control over his semblance yet and wasn't sure he could keep them safe.

Isaac pushed out all thoughts of doubt from his mind and concentrated on the bomb. Slowly it began to rise into the air. It passed the rafters of the warehouse until it reached the ceiling. Isaac began to put all his energy into the bomb. He heard the bomb scrape against the roof of the warehouse.

Isaac began to sweat profusely as he heard the bomb beep even faster. Pieces of the bomb began to drift away from the main body. He was going to fail… He was going to die…. His life seemed to pass by his eyes...

Isaac gritted his teeth and let out a cry as the bomb broke open the roof and sailed into the sky. Then when it was high enough Isaac watched from the hole in the ceiling as the night sky was lit up a bright orange.

Isaac moved his hand in front of his face and to the hole a smile on his face. Then his body gave out and he collapsed on the floor, exhausted. It was like he had lost control over his body. Looks like his semblance had a drawback. But in the end, he got to live another day. The barriers on the door and windows suddenly gave way.

"Good job Isaac." The voice said. "I had a feeling you would survive that. You have any interesting semblance; I can't wait to test you again." The voice said before the door swung wide open.

"Isaac!" Yang shouted running to her teacher.

Isaac frowned, "What are you doing here? I told you to run!" He shouted.

"There was no way I was going to run! Besides looks like you took care of the problem. Why didn't you just do that from the beginning? Would have saved us a lot of trouble." Yang said.

Blake walked in behind her, "I have to agree. That would have been easier." She said.

Isaac shook his head, "My semblance doesn't have a lot of… control. I have no idea if I could have keep you safe as well. Besides, whoever set up that bomb could have set it off early and killed us all. Better to play by their rules." He said.

Yang sighed, "I don't like it, but you got a point. Come on." She said bending down and throwing Isaac's arm on her shoulder. "Lets go home old man." She said.

"Not that old." Isaac said under his breath causing Blake to laugh.

* * *

"Incredible, sensational, fantastic!" Oliver yelled examining the stone tablet.

Isaac groaned, his head still hurt. "Try not to yell Oliver." Isaac said siting down in a chair and applying an ice pack to his head.

After dropping Yang and Blake off at school, Isaac dropped off the tablet at Oliver's house. Isaac was trying his best not to move around too much. It seems like straining his Semblance like he did causes him to get a massive migraine.

"Oh, sorry." Oliver said grabbing his cup of tea and taking sitting down next to Isaac. "It's just… I never expected my father to use something like this to hide his footprints. It's remarkable really." He said.

"What is this thing exactly?" Isaac asked gesturing to the stone tablet.

"Imagine it like an encyclopedia but written in a dead language." Oliver responded.

"Dead langue?" Isaac asked a bit confused.

Oliver cleared his throat as Isaac leaned back in his chair ready for another history lesson. "Before we began recording our history another people existed. People who lived in nature and were one with it. They used or everything and the only thing they were asked to do in return was to watch the Marker. Supposedly. My father believed that these people were the biggest clue towards finding the Marker."

"So did they still really exist?" Isaac asked.

Oliver laughed, "Don't be ridiculous. Maybe back then but with increased Grimm activity all over the world there is no way they could be alive still. Regardless they did write down what they learned of the world. Hopefully I can use this tablet to decode my father's footprints to the Marker."

Isaac sighed, he would have to address this issue now. "Olive, are you sure you want to go with me to find the Marker."

Oliver laughed, "Of course I want to go, why wouldn't I?" He asked.

"There's no telling what we might find. There could be Grimm or worse. What happens then? You can't defend yourself." Isaac stated.

Oliver rubbed the back of his head, "Well that is a possibility…" He mumbled. "But I can't give up now! Even if the entire world is against me I will find the Marker for myself." Oliver shouted while pumping his chest.

Isaac was afraid of this. He couldn't tell Oliver that his father's work was the most dangerous artifact in the universe. Isaac could get close to the Marker without any major effect but Oliver's mind would be destroyed within seconds. And that's if he doesn't get turned into a necromorph. "Oliver, I know you want to see the Marker for yourself but there is something I must tell you. Something personal." Isaac said.

"What is it Isaac?" Oliver asked his curiosity intrigued.

"When I was a young man my girlfriend was a nurse for a crew of… explores. One day they came across a piece of the Marker. The Marker killed them all and turned their bodies into twisted monsters. They hunted down all nearby humans and killed them without mercy. Men, women, and even children. Each time they killed, another monster rose. I had to destroy those monsters myself and the Marker piece as well. But it didn't come without a cost. The Marker destroyed my mind leaving me mentally unstable for years. I don't want the same thing to happen to you." Isaac said recounting his experience with the necromorphs. Of course he left a few details out.

Oliver was stunned. He sat down in the chair and took a sip from his cup. "That's not possible." He mumbled.

Isaac removed his shirt to show the years of damage he had suffered from the necromorphs attacks. "These scars say otherwise." Isaac said.

"I remember reading about how the Marker could influence the dead but I never imagined it could do something like that. And to have an influence on your mind? How could my father chase after something like this?" He said his hands shaking a bit.

Isaac put a hand on Oliver's shoulder, "I know this is hard to hear but once I find the Marker I am going to destroy it. I can't let something like that exist." He said.

Oliver looked into his cup for a moment. He sat in silence, thinking about these choices. Finally, he nodded. "I understand. Though his pains me to say, please go without me Isaac and destroy the Marker."

Isaac smiled, "Thank you Oliver." Isaac said as his scroll began to ring.

"One moment." Isaac said excusing himself from Oliver's home. "This is Clarke." He answered.

"Isaac, this is Ozpin." He said through the other end.

"Is there a problem?" Isaac asked.

Ozpin laughed, "Must there always be a problem?" He asked.

"Only when you call me." Isaac responded.

The line was silent for a moment before Ozpin responded, "There is something I wish to ask you. Two of our students just walked into campus in the middle of the night. Normally I wouldn't question them but one of them was screaming in the halls about how cool her professor was for bringing them on a mission." Ozpin said.

Isaac gulped, "Oh really?" He asked.

"Yes, you wouldn't know anything about that would you?" Ozpin asked.

Isaac coughed and began to sweat profusely. "I can't say I do. Anyways, I need to head back to campus now. We can talk more about tomorrow." Isaac said hanging up the scroll.

Isaac let out a sigh of relief. He didn't need any more problems in his life. Isaac also mentally kicked himself for bringing students with him on a mission. Then again, better to know they were with him than have them follow him and get hurt.

Isaac walked back inside Oliver's house to find him completely absorbed in the tablet. "Alright, I'm heading out. Let me know when you make a breakthrough." Isaac said.

Oliver turned to face Isaac and gave him a thumbs up, "You can count on me!" He said before returning the too tablet.

At least Isaac could count on Oliver. He was a bit over zealous but he getting results. Isaac left the mystery of the code in Oliver's hand. Now he had to uncover the one who set the trap.

* * *

Isaac yawned as he woke himself up for another morning. Isaac felt it odd how quickly he adapted to new schedule. Wake up in the morning, take a shower, get dressed, get breakfast, do research on the Marker, teach his class, eat dinner, and then go to bed. Simple as that.

This was the kind of life Isaac wished he had for so long. Now that he had it, he was bored with it. Fate was funny.

Isaac went through his normal schedule and arrived in the dining hall. He grabbed a cup of coffee, a bagel, and a bowl of grains. As he got older he found he didn't need bigger meals in the morning. Isaac felt hunger at night or in the afternoon. Guess he wasn't a morning person.

Isaac was biting into his bagel when he noticed Cinder sitting as his table again. Isaac didn't mind the company but most people who got to know he gave up after the first time. "Back again?" Isaac asked.

Cinder laughed, "Call me curious." She said.

"Curiosity killed the cat." Isaac said.

"Where did you hear that?" Cinder asked.

Isaac shrugged his shoulders, "It's an old expression from where I grew up." He said.

"And where was that?" Cinder asked.

Isaac thought for a moment. "It was a small little city in the mountains in Atlas. It was quiet, nothing much happened." Isaac said lying.

"It sounds lovely; I think I would like to go soon." Cinder said.

"Who knows, you might go one day." Isaac said. "So, do you plan on sitting in on my class again?" He asked.

Cinder thought for a moment, placing a finger on her chin. "At first I didn't think much of the class if I was being honest." Cinder said. "But, I learned something I never thought possible. I would like to come back if it is alright with you." She said.

Isaac took a sip form his mug, "I don't have a problem with it." He said.

"Hey Isaac!" Ruby's voice rattled Isaac causing him to drop his mug of coffee.

Ruby ran up to Isaac a smile on her face, "How are you this morning?" She asked a smile on her face.

Isaac began picking up the pieces of the mug, "I don't mind you wanting to talk to me Ruby but try not to shout or startle me, I'm a bit jumpy." Isaac said.

"Oh sorry." Ruby said looking at the mess at Isaac's feet. "Let me help with that." She said picking up all the pieces with lightning speed. "Here you go." She said putting the broken pieces of the mug into Isaac's hand.

"Thanks." Isaac said taking the trash and placing on the table. "So, what's up?" Isaac asked.

Ruby smiled, "I watched your stuff last night just like you asked. I didn't even fall asleep." She said.

"She fell asleep twice." Weiss's voices said as she appeared from around the corner.

Ruby stomped her foot and crosser her arms, "Weiss! Don't tell him that."

Isaac was glad he asked Weiss to stay in his room as well. Now he knew who he could count on. "Anything else happen?" Isaac asked.

"Well I did have one idea about your suit." Ruby said.

Isaac shook his head, "I think I'm good." He said.

"But, you haven't even heard the idea yet." Ruby protested.

"Don't need to, that suit has been at my side for longer than you have been alive." Isaac said taking a sip from his mug.

"But… I made some blueprints." Ruby said dropping her gaze to the floor.

Weiss cleared her throat, "I know she may seem childish at times but Ruby has a talent for weapons. I don't think it would hurt to look at the blueprints." Weiss said defending her partner.

Isaac looked at Ruby who was giving him her best puppy dog eyes. Isaac sighed, looking wouldn't hurt. "Alright I'll give it a look after class." Isaac said.

Ruby let out a cheer, "You won't regret it!" She said giving Isaac a hug.

"Alright, let's keep the personal contact to the minimum." Isaac said pushing Ruby away.

Ruby let go of Isaac, "Sorry." She said. Ruby pulled out her scroll, "Oh snap, we're going to be late." Ruby said pulling her partner away and towards class.

"Well, looks like you're just a big softie." Cinder said laughing.

Isaac rolled his eyes, "I am a teacher. Can't just go around telling students no." He said.

"I'm glad to see a teacher willing to help their students. I have to ask though, how far would you be willing to go to help your student." Cinder asked.

Isaac wasn't sure how to respond. Of course he would do anything to destroy the Marker and protect the people of this world. He wasn't sure how far he would go to help his students though. Just as he was about to respond his scroll went off, "One second." Isaac said pulling his scroll out of his pocket.

"Hello?" Isaac asked.

"Hello Isaac, it seems Ozpin needs me for something today. Would you please cover combat class this afternoon?" Glynda asked through the other end of the line.

Isaac didn't want to if he was being honest. On the other hand, he did own Glynda one for helping him with his semblance. "Alright, I'll watch your class." Isaac said.

"Wonderful, the class stars this afternoon. Try to be on time." Glynda said before hanging up the other end.

Isaac grabbed his plate and empty mug, "Well looks like I'm needed." Isaac said to Cinder.

"Please go ahead, I'm sure we can talk another time." Cinder said.

Isaac nodded and went to the back of the dining hall. He dropped of his dishes and headed back to his room. He was confused by Cinder. Sure she wasn't pushy but she asked a lot of questions. Maybe too many questions. Isaac wasn't too keen on having people peer in his personal life. People tend to die when that happens.

Isaac went into his room and pulled out a small leather book. He decided from this day forward he would keep his own journal. Just in case he didn't make it back home or he couldn't destroy the Marker.

Isaac looked down at the blank page. Where would he start? His childhood? The Marker? The die he was supposed to die?

No, he knew where to start. Grabbing his pen, he began to write:

'My name is Isaac Clarke. Of the time of writing this I am 49 years old. I was born on the planet Earth, lightyears away from Remnant. For the past month I have been living at Beacon Academy as a teacher. For the past years of my life I have been fighting against the forces of the Markers. I recently discovered the existence of a Marker on Remnant. I made a promise to someone special that I would destroy the Marker's forces so that they would never hurt anyone again. This is a battle with no end in sight. I may not even live to see the end of the fight. But I will not give up. The people on this planet are innocent and do no deserved the evil that is the Marker. One day I hope that someone will read this journal and know, that there will always be someone to fight against the Marker threat.'

Isaac finished writing the last sentence when he saw the time. Isaac closed his journal and put his pen away. Isaac then grabbed his plasma cutter and headed towards the fighting hall. He hasn't seen of his students fight each other yet. This would be interesting.

* * *

Isaac walked into the the small arena set aside for sparring matches between students. The arena was shaped like old colosseums from Earth. Isaac looked around the seats and saw several students from his class and new students he had never seen. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Cinder sitting with the girl with green hair from before and a boy with silver hair. Isaac then looked straight ahead to see teamy RWBY messing around. Yang was making a joke to the displeasure of Blake who smiled regardless and Ruby was testing out funny faces in front of Weiss. Weiss responded by turning her head but chuckling when she wasn't looking.

Isaac pulled out his scroll and opened up the schedule Glynda had sent him for matches. The first match was Jaune sparing with Yang. He knew Yang was a brawler but he had never seen Jaune fight. But if he fought the same way he acted in class Isaac didn't have high hopes.

Isaac cleared his throat and looked to all the students. "Alright some of you know me, some of you don't. My name is Isaac and I will be instructor this evening." He shouted getting all of their attention. "While I am you instructor I expect you to all treat with the same respect you would show Glynda."

"Yeah I'll give you the same respect I show here." Isaac heard a student joke while making a dirty gesture. Isaac responded by using his kinesis to grab a small rock and threw it at the student's head.

"Any other questions?" Isaac asked at the student rubbed his forehead.

The silence was Isaac's response. "Alright. Now our first match is Jaune Arc sparring against Yang Xiaolong." Isaac said.

Jaune gulped and Yang let out a little cheer giving her teammates a thumbs up. After a few minutes both Jaune and Yang were down in the middle of the arena with weapons at the ready. "Alright at the sound of the bell." Isaac said as the screen behind him counted down to three and then sounded a bell.

Yang moved first assaulting Jaune with a fury of blows aimed at his chest and head. Jaune brought up his shield to block the attack and even though he was able to defend himself each blow pushed him back further and further. Yang then sweeped her foot as Jaune's leg casuing him to fall over. Yang followed up her kick by trying to attack him while he down with her fist but Jaune rolled out of the way and swung at her with his sword.

Yang jumped back and dodged his attack. Before Jaune even had a chance to react Yang delivered a powerful right hook knocking Jaune back on the floor. Dazed Jaune swung his sword hoping to land a attack but Yang dodged the attack with easy. She then punched him in the gut and then sent him flying with a kick. Jaune slowly stood up, everyone could see his aura was almost in the red. Jaune raised his shoulders and charged forward with his shield trying to bash Yang. Yang dodged the charge but Jaune followed up his charge by throwing his shield at her knocking her back. Jaune then kicked her gut and retrieved his shield.

Yang fell backward but was able to save herself by flipping back on her hands and then landing on her feet. She smirked and then charged again at Jaune. She unleashed a flurry of blows from what seemed every direction before swinging her right fist at his head. Jaune was able to dodge the blows but brought up his shield to block his head. With his shield high up Yang used her other fist to punch Jaune in the gut causing him to almost vomit. He dropped his sword and shield and collapsed on

the ground his aura almost gone.

Isaac nodded and called the match. "The winner is Yang." He said as Yang helped Jaune up from the ground.

"Nice try there barf boy." Yang said joking.

"Still with that?" Jaune asked out of breath and exhausted.

As Yang helped Jaune out the arena Isaac pulled up the next match. "The next two sparring are, Weiss and Cardin." He said.

The two combatants made their way to the arena just as Isaac received a call on his scroll. "Alright let the match begin. I need to take this." He said giving them permission to spar.

Isaac answered his scroll a bit annoyed someone was calling him at this time. "Who is this?" He asked.

"Isaac, it's me Ironwood." Ironwood voice said on the other end of the line.

"Ironwood? What do you want?" Isaac asked ready to hang up the moment he said something stupid. Although Isaac wasn't made after what he went through the less he had to do with Ironwood the better.

"I need a favor Isaac. One of my ships has been taken over by a lunatic." Ironwood said.

"I'm sure you have people for that. Why call me?" Isaac asked confused. Why would Ironwood even let anyone know that he didn't have control over a ship? That kind of information could leak and make him look weak.

"I sent several squads but none of returned. Except for one. A single soldier returned missing his hands." Ironwood said. "The soldier said the manic cut of his hands off and sent him with a message. The lunatic wants to talk to the 'dead man'."

Isaac was confused. Dead man? What could that possibly mean? Was it possible this lunatic wasn't as insane that Ironwood was making out. "That doesn't answer my question. Why call me?" Isaac asked.

"Because he came back with a picture of you." Ironwood said.

Isaac sighed. He always seemed to attract crazy wherever he went. It was Stros all over again. "Alright give me a minute to suit up." Isaac said hanging up and returning his attention to the fight. He was surprised to find the fight already over and Cardin frozen in a block of ice.

Weiss gave a bow to Isaac. "The match is over." She said.

Isaac nodded. "Something came up. Consider this a free period until your next class." Isaac said walking out of the arena and leaving behind a group of confused students.

Isaac walked back to the engineering room and towards the back. He looked at his suit then this other weapons. "No rest for the wicked hun?" He joked as he began to suit up for whatever came next.


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter 8: Laughing Dead_

"Doctor? Are you sure you want to continue this?" The nurse asked the doctor as the two made their way down the hall and to the doctor's office.

"We've been talking for almost a year now. Regardless of what happened last night I still believe he can be redeemed." Doctor Irvin said. The incident he was talking about was about how last night his patient ripped the throat out of a guard last night.

Doctor Irvin worked at a mental asylum as the head doctor. For the past year he had been working with one of the patient. The patient's name was Angus Hendriks but he didn't respond to that name. The patient only responded to the name, 'Smiles.' Angus chose this nickname because as he put it, 'he was the only one who still knew how to smile'.

Angus had been committed last year after he was found cutting the hand of his wife. After the incident Angus would do the same to anyone else who happened to cross his path. He would take their hands, eyes, feet, and even whole organs. Despite being so violent Doctor Irvin still believed he could recover and become a part of society again.

So for the past month Doctor Irvin had been meeting with Angus once a week for therapy. He thought things had been going well, until he had heard about the throat ripping incident. Doctor Irvin finally made it to his office and held the door handle. "Nurse, I appreciate you concern but he is been given slight sedation and he trusts me. I'll be fine." He said opening the door to find Angus lying on the couch.

"That will be all." Irvin said to the nurse.

"As you say doctor." The nurse responded leaving the two.

Doctor Irvin then walked over to his desk and sat down. Angus tired to lift his head up meet his eye contact but the drugs were too numbing. "I liked her." Angus said.

"Do you now?" Irvin said starting the tap recorded for today's session. He hopped that he could review today's session and latter identify what caused him to attack the guard in case he didn't admit to it.

"Yes I do Doctor. She was concerned for you well being. That is very kind." Angus said smiling.

"Well Smiles she was concerned that you might attack me. But she doesn't know you like that." Irvin responded leaning back in his chair.

"I wouldn't hurt you doctor. I only hurt that guard because he interrupted me." Angus said.

"What did he interrupt Smiles?" Ivirin asked.

Angus tried to lift his hands but to anvil. "There was a mouse in my room. It was trying to tell me something about the dead man." Angus said.

"The dead man?" Ivirn asked. Angus had never mentioned this person before so he was intrigued. Maybe this dead man could be the root of the problem.

"Yes the dead man. I know doctor, I was shocked too. I didn't know what it meant at first either. But then the mouse told me more. He told me it was a fairy tale." Angus said.

"A fairy tale?" Irvin asked.

"Yes it was very interesting. You should get comfortable doctor, this is a long story." Angus said.

Irvin nodded and pulled out a notepad ready to catch any important details.

"There was once a young prince. He was loved by the people and the people loved him. The prince loved a young princess from a nearby kingdom. The two would communication through the wind, sending messages of love. One day the young prince stopped receiving messages and the young prince was concerned something had happened to his princess. So gathering the bravest knights, the young prince set out with a magic set of armor and his trusty sword to find the princess." Angus said recounting the story.

Irvin took some notes and then nodded. "Then what happened?" He asked.

"The prince made it the princess castle only to find a terrible curse set upon it. The dead were coming back to alive and attacking the living. Many of the knights died in horrible and bloody ways as the young prince made his way deeper into the castle. Finally after searching for what seemed like days only the young prince remained. But he had found what he was looking for, the princess at the bottom of a well. The young prince wasted no time and jumped into the well after the princess but he was tricked. Instead he was dragged deep into hell itself." Angus said trying to help explain the story but moving his hands about but unable to do so.

"What happened to the prince after that?" Irvin asked now a bit intrigued by the story itself.

"Days, months, years passed and the young prince did not return to his kingdom. Finally the king gathered his army and set off to find him. The king lead his army to the castle and only found rubble and the bodies of the dead. The king found his son sitting down next to the well. He was older now and looked almost dead. His flesh was gray and it was hard to tell where his flesh began and his armor stooped. It was like the two had become one. The king was overjoyed to see his son alive and rushed to him. He hugged his son and asked, 'What happened to you my boy?'. The son laughed and responded, 'I was in hell father. It chewed me up and then spit me back out. Do you know why?' The song asked his father. 'Why?' The king asked. 'Because I left a bad taste in its mouth.' The son responded and chopped the head of the king. The son went on a rampage killing everyone in the army. No one could stop his fury and bloodlust. The young prince exited the castle and began to roam the lands, not dead but not alive either killing anyone that got in his way." Angus said.

Irvin felt a cold sweat drop down his neck. "Then what happened."

"See, this is why I punished the guard. The mouse was telling this part of the story when the guard came in. The guard told me to get back into bed. I told the guard I needed to hear the end of the story. The guard then rudely stepped on the mouse before he could finish his story. So I ripped out this throat." Angus said cackling to himself at the end.

Irvin gulped. "Well… I can see why you might respond that way." He said as the timer went off. "I'm sorry Smiles but were out of time."

"That's okay doctor I've finally decided." Angus said as two guards came in and picked him up off the couch.

"Decided on what?" Irvin asked.

"On what to take. I decided I'm going to take you eyes doctor." Angus said.

"My… eyes?" Irvin asked confused.

"I took the guard's throat so he could never interrupt anyone ever again. I've decided I'm going to take you eyes. You're a much better listener and your eyes only get in the way." Angus said as the guards dragged him to the door. "I'll be seeing you soon." Angus said cracking a smile as the guards closed the door.

The guards dragged Angus back to his room and threw him against the wall with a thud. Angus laid there for a moment. Too drugged up to respond. Then a figure dressed in black appeared from a dark corner. "It's time." The figure said.

"Oh goody. Before we go how does the story end?" Angus asked smiling.

The figure was silent for a moment then responded. "The dead man roamed the lands killing anyone who got in his way. The angels of heaven sent many warriors to stop him but nothing seemed to kill the dead man. For what can kill that is already dead? Finally the angels of heaven opened a door to another world and banished the dead man there. Never to return."

Angus laughed. "I like it." He said.

"Good. We have little time. Are you ready?" The figure asked.

"Almost. I just need to make a quick stop to see a old friend." Angus said cackling.

* * *

Isaac put away the dossier on the Angus and looked across to Ironwood. "Anything else I should know about this guy?" Isaac asked adjusting his suit a bit.

"Beyond that? Not much. He escaped from the mental ward three months ago. Murder his doctor on the way out. There has been a string of murders lately but the police have been unable to identify an assailant. Until now." Ironwood said. "About three hours ago I received an emergency distress signal from one of my ships. I sent in a team to investigate and only one man came back."

"And he had a picture of me?" Isaac asked.

Ironwood nodded. "More or less. The soldier came back with a picture of you but he keep calling you the dead man." Ironwood said pulling out the photo of Isaac. It showed Isaac without his suit teaching at Beacon. Isaac grimaced, he wasn't sure how that picture was taken but he would have to follow up on it after dealing with this problem.

Isaac sighed, he guessed that was his life though. Just when things seem to get simple something goes wrong. A broken bridge, no power, a broken piece of machine, it was always something. Isaac was a enginger and fixing problems was his job. "Alright, what's the plan?" Isaac asked.

"Were going to take you the hostile airship. There are still several hostages left on the airship. I want you to go in there and save them if possible." Ironwood said.

"And if I'm too late?" Isaac asked.

"Then you avenge them." Ironwood said his tone dripping with anger. Isaac understood how Ironwood felt. Being unable to do anything while the people you care for are at risk? It was a feeling Isaac had felt too many times in his life.

"I'll do my best." Isaac said standing up. Before he left the small room Ironwood place a hand on Isaac's shoulder.

"Wait. Before you go…. I want to apologize. When you first arrived I treated you with distrust and here you are risking your life for my men." Ironwood said offering Isaac a hand. "You've been here for some time now and if you were up to anything I would have noticed. I've been burned before trusting someone. I hope you can forgive me for the way I treated you."

Isaac shook Ironwood's hand. "Thank me after I come back with your men." He said.

Ironwood nodded as Isaac broke the handshake and made his way out of Ironwood's office and down to the docks. As he walked up to the ship that would take him to the hostile airship a soldier in a wheelchair approached him. "I doubt you remember me, but I could never forget that suit or the man who saved my life." The soldier said.

"Don't mention it." Isaac said remembering when he had first arrived. It had seemed to long ago too but in truth he had only been two months at the most. And most of it was spent teaching. Something Isaac never imagined he would be doing with his life.

"I have a favor to ask." The soldier said his head dropping. "Our captain. Scarlet, she was one the fist squads to go in. Everyone told me that they were taken back but… she's tough. Please, bring her back if you can." The soldier said a few tear drops hitting his pants his voice soft and full of fear.

Isaac put a hand on the soldier's shoulder, "I'll do what I can." He responded to the soldier's plea.

"Thank you." Was all the solider was able to say before wheeling himself away. Isaac closed his eyes as his helmet covered his face. He took in a deep breath as his entire world went silent for a moment. He took a moment to remind himself that this would be different. He wasn't going to fight a horde of necromorphs. This time he was going to save as many lives as possible. This had to be different, for Isaac's sake. After exhaling he jumped on the smaller airship as it took out of Ironwood's flagship and towards his destination.

Isaac wanted to take the weapon he had recently made with him but that was designed to fight a terror from beyond. Not humans. Though Isaac had to admit for the first time in what felt like years, he was nervous. From what he had witnessed from the warriors of this planet they were fast, deadly, and each one had a unique ability that could defy the laws of physics. This was a new fight for Isaac, but it wasn't one he was going to run away from. He wasn't afraid of fighting. He had been fighting for so long he had to feel fear.

The ship landed next to the airlock of the airship. "Alright here's the dropoff point. You should be connected to our com system so when you're ready for extraction let us know." The pilot said. Isaac nodded as he opened the door to the airlock to reveal a dark hallway. As Isaac stepped into the hallway and the door closed behind him the pilot offered Isaac parting words. "Show that manic what happens when you mess with us."

Isaac slowly made his way down the dark hallway, the light from his helmet and plasma cutter helping to illuminate the way. Isaac had always meant to upgrade his suit with night vision but had never gotten around to it. As he made his way deep down the hallway he suddenly felt himself step into a puddle. Isaac didn't need to see the puddle to know it was blood. He could never forget the unpleasant squashing sound. Isaac reached down and followed the trail of blood to a group of bodies. Each body in the pile belonged to a Atlas soldier. Mostly like squad sent to investigate. Isaac didn't flinch when he saw the pile of dead bodies, however he did shudder at what he saw next.

Pinned to the wall in front of him was Scarlet. Her hands and legs attached to the wall by several knifes. Her chest was ripped wide open to reveal a large gaping hole where her heart would be. If Isaac had to guess, the manic tortured her before ripping her heart out. Isaac touched Scarlet's face for a moment, he knew he shouldn't blame himself but deep down he knew his bad luck with women had something to do with her gruesome death.

As Isaac pulled his hand away Scarlet's hand somehow grabbed Isaac by the throat and began to lift him him. Scarlet's eyes and mouth began to glow as Isaac felt himself be lifted into the air unable to breath. "Dead man, dead man, fear the coming of the dead man." Scarlet's corpse seems to sing before dropping Isaac back down.

Isaac gasped for air slowly stood back up. Once again Scarlet's corpse remained as motionless as when he arrived. Suddenly a rage overtook Isaac he let out a scream as he punched at Scarlet's head barely avoiding hitting it. Instead he simply dent the wall next to her head. Isaac didn't move for a moment. Leaving his fist next to her head. Isaac wasn't sure what he was expecting really. Deep down he wanted her to come Necromorph. He wanted to tear her body to shreds so that he would never have to see her face again.

Isaac pulled his fist back. He would let the clean up crew deal with the bodies. Isaac refocused his attention and continued down the hallway until he arrived a door. He slowly opened the door to reveal the hanger of the airship. The hanger was thankfully light up and Isaac found himself standing at the balcony overlooking the docking part of the hanger. Down below him was Isaac assumed was the crew of the airship. And pacing back and forth in the middle of the hanger was none other than Angus. He had changed since his time in the mental asylum. His hair had gotten longer, reaching down to his shoulders. He was wearing large red arm guards along with a deep black shirt and pants. All along his body were knives of varying lengths.

Angus paced back and forth before stopping in front of the crew. He knelt down to meet one face to face. "Where is he?" Angus shouted at the crew member.

"I don't know." The crew member responded sobbing a bit.

Angus grabbed the crew member and lifted him up. Angus then grabbed a knife from his waist and held it to the crew members throat. He pressed light against his throat drawing a small amount of blood. "I did what I was asked. I killed those who needed to be killed. All I wanted was to meet the dead man. I thought that if I created a strong enough stench he would have no choice but to come. But here I am waiting for no one!" Angus screamed. Then a sudden smile appeared on his face. "That's it…. I didn't make the stench strong enough. The dead man needs more blood. More bodies!" Angus said bursting into laughter as he slit the throat of the crew member.

"No!" Isaac shouted jumping down from the balcony and to the floor of the hanger. Although Angus couldn't see his face Isaac was brimming with rage.

Angus gasped. "You came! You really came!" He said dropping the bloody knife.

"Let them go!" Isaac shouted raising his plasma cutter and pointing it at Angus. He wanted to fire on him right now. End the whole thing. But he couldn't be to hasty. Angus could still kill some of the hostages. And Isaac had questions.

"Of course. I just need them to bring you here. Now that you arrived I can kill them and be done with it." Angus said pulling out a knife in each hand and approaching the hostages.

"No! You don't touch them! Your fight is with me!" Isaac said firing a shot at Agnus missing his head by a few inches.

Angus turned back to Isaac and tilted his head. "I'm confused. Isn't this what you wanted? Death?" Angus asked.

"No, no more murder." Isaac said slowly approaching Angus.

Angus shook his head. A frown on his face. "You! You're not the dead man. You may have his magical armor but you're no dead man! You're a pretender! I hate pretenders!" Angus said throwing both knives in his hands at Isaac. Isaac caught one of the knifes with his kinesis and dodged the other one.

Isaac threw the knife back at Angus who knocked it away with one of this knifes. "Ohhh…. I like you pretender. Let's have some fun before the real dead man arrives." Angus said.

"Before we go any further. There was a girl. Your tore her heart out. Why!?" Isaac shouted.

"Why? That's what they always shout. Don't they see? It's not about the why. It's how I kill someone. She thought herself brave. She offered up herself in exchange for the life the crew. I was so moved by her bravery I had take her heart and see how it ticked." Angus said laughing. "It didn't last long after I pulled it out though. So I threw it away."

Isaac grinded his teeth. "You bastard I'll kill you!" He shouted his rage reaching its limit. He was going to tear Angus limb from limb. He was going to inflict as much pain as possible on him.

Angus smiled, "Oh, now that sounds like a dead man to me. The anger, the bloodlust, the utter disregard for your own life! Show me what you can do!" Angus said throwing up several knives in the air. They all gently floated in the air until each one turned and pointed at Isaac.

Isaac knew what was coming next as he ducked behind a box as the knife's rushed at him. Isaac hid for a moment waiting for the assault to pass over. The moment it did Isaac popped up behind the box and fired several rounds at Angus. Angus dodged out of the way and threw a knife at Isaac. Isaac grabbed the knife with kinesis again. "That's not going to work." Isaac shouted then to his surprise the knife duplicated in mid air and the second knife flew into Isaac's shoulder.

Isaac pulled the knife out of his shoulder as he applied medi-gel to the wound to stop the bleeding. It seemed duplication was this man's semblance. So Isaac decided to respond with his own. He rushed forward as he jumped into the air several crates began to float around him as the hanger lost its gravity. Isaac thought this would give him a leg up but Angus responded to the loss of gravity by jumping on a box and then duplicating a makeshift platform for him to jump off of and charge at Isaac. Isaac was caught off guard by the attack and blocked the incoming knife with his hand. The tip of the blade inches from his helmet. The two struggled as Isaac tired to push Angus away. Isaac reached out with his other hand and grabbed a floating crate with kinesis. He then pulled it towards him causing the crate to crash into Angus. The force of the crate caused Angus to slam into a wall as Isaac took the moment to pull the knife out of his hand.

Before Angus crashed into the wall he threw a knife at Isaac's leg. Although it didn't move very fast it was enough to puncture his suit. The blade reached deep down in his leg hitting his bone. Isaac let out a cry of pain as he slowly pulled the knife out.

Isaac threw away the knife as he began to think. Isaac knew that Angus couldn't throw any more knifes from where he was, but he was still able to attack him with incredible speed. Angus moved too fast for Isaac to hit him with static and throwing crates at Angus would only give him an advantage. As Isaac floated in mid air he noticed a red crate floating near by. Then he had a idea. Isaac grabbed the red crate with kinesis and threw it as Angus. "Take that!" Isaac shouted.

Angus laughed as pushed himself off the wall and held his hand out stopping the crate in mid air. He then created another platform for him to stand on. "Your not very smart." Angus said smiling as he prepared another attack.

"No, I'm not. But I'm smart enough to beat you." He said raising his plasma cutter and hitting the crate causing an explosion. Right at that moment Isaac stopped his semblance causing everything to drop to the ground with a hard thud.

Isaac landed to the ground triumphant as Angus fell to the ground slightly burned and his arm trapped underneath a pile of rubble. "I'll kill you!" Angus shouted furiously as he tried to pull his arm free.

Isaac shook his head as he pulled his helmet down. He made his way to the crew, "Everyone okay?" He asked them.

"A bit nauseous and bruised but we'll live." One of the crew members said.

"Good, now I need to take this maniac back to Ironwood. Think you can-" Isaac was saying turning back to where he had left Angus only to find a pool of blood. Isaac was then cut off as Angus jumped on top of him and began to strangle him with his one arm.

Isaac tired to fight back but Angus grip was as strong as steel. "You will die! I will kill you! Die!" Angus shouted like a wild animal, his eyes blood red.

Isaac began to lose concussion as he felt around for something to attack Angus with. Then he found one of Angus's kines. Without thinking Isaac grabbed the knife and then shoved it into Angus's head covering Isaac's face with blood. Angus let go of Isaac as he slowly touched the knife. "Maybe you we the dead man after all…" Angus said as he dropped on top of Isaac, dead.

Isaac pushed Angus's dead body off of him as he panted to regain his breath. Isaac slowly closed his eyes to get a moment to rest. He felt as though he deserved it. If only for the moment.

* * *

When Isaac opened his eyes again he was in his bed. Isaac looked around, his slowly pushed himself up but then cringed in pain. He looked down at his hand and leg. They were both wrapped in gauze. Isaac looked over to his clock to see that several hours had passed since he had left to fight Angus. Or days. Isaac wasn't quite sure. As he tried to remember how he gotten back the door to his room opened.

Then to his surprise Cinder walked into the room carrying a roll of gauze. "Oh, it seems you're awake now." She said.

Isaac was confused. "How did you… what are you doing here?" Isaac asked.

"Well I'm taking care of you. Ruby was taking care of you yesterday but she asked if I could watch you for a few hours." Cinder explained setting down the gauze.

"Yesterday? How long have I been out?" Isaac asked.

"Three days now. No one will tell us what happened to you." Cinder said. Then she smiled. "Or should I saw they don't really know. But I do."

Isaac didn't understand, what was she talking about? "Cinder… What are you saying?" Isaac asked.

Cinder slowly walked up to Isaac and raised her hand to shower her palm was red hot. "Let me explain Isaac." She said pressing his palm on Isaac's leg wound causing him to let out a cry of pain as he jumped out of bed. He gritted his teeth as he slowly began to crawl towards the door hoping to grab a weapon or help. But Cinder stepped on his hand wounds stopping in his tracks.

"Oh no Isaac. I'm not done with you yet." She said picking him up and throwing him against the wall causing Isaac to spit up some blood.

"Why are you doing this?" Isaac asked struggling to stay standing up. His knees shaking and his wounds reopened.

"Oh you poor old man. You really have no idea do you? Well let me make it simple. I have a plan and you keep interfering with it." She said grabbing a small knife and pointing it as his throat. "You just had to stick your nose into things that don't concern you."

Isaac didn't understand what was going on but even injured he wasn't going to lie down and die like this. He headbutted Cinder causing her to back up dazed. He then reached into his desk and pulled out a pistol. He pointed it at Cinder as she recovered. "If you're going to kill me you better not wait. I find I'm harder to kill with age." He said.

Cinder sneered, "If I wanted you dead I would have slit your throat as you slept. I'm just here to deliver a message." She said.

"What's the message?" Isaac asked still pointing his gun at her.

"I wanted you dead the moment you began talking with that boy but my… boss has other ideas. She wanted to offer you a choice." Cinder said.

"Let me guess, join us or die. I've heard it before and I'll tell you the same thing I've told everyone before you. If you think you can stop me you better get ready. Cause I won't stop until this world is safe. So tell your boss after I've destroyed the marker I'll come for them next." Isaac said.

There was silence for a moment and then Cinder laughed. "Plucky… but foolish." She said putting the knife away. "I've been ordered not to kill you out of respect for your talents but let me warn you, soon this world will burn. And you'll make wonderful fuel for the flames.

"Get out." Isaac said.

Cinder narrowed her eyes and headed to the door. "Before I go let me tell you something. You even think about interfering with our plans again or telling anyone what happened her, I'll kill that little girl that's taken a liking to you." She said.

"Touch one hair on her head I'll rip your eyes out." Isaac threatened.

Cinder smiled, "I'll like to see you try. And before you ask, I attacked you to release some pent up steam. But this isn't the end. I'm going to be keeping a very close eye on you. So sleep well Isaac, it might be the last time you do." She said walking out of the room.

Isaac let out a sigh of relief as he slowly sat down. He wasn't sure how to take that attack. But he couldn't help but laugh. She was a woman and she crossed Isaac's path. With his luck she would be dead by the end of the month. Still, Isaac was worried for Ruby. Now she was a hostage without knowing it.

Isaac was faced with another problem. Either he continued to pursue the Marker and Ruby or someone else would get hurt. Or do nothing until it was too late and everyone was dead. Every time Isaac felt like was making headway there was another problem. Just another fucking problem for a tired engineer. Isaac let himself drift back off to sleep as he thought of a way to save the world, or at least die trying.


End file.
